The Huffington Post almost glowed in announcing the latest “landmark” in TV history. “Thomas Roberts anchored NBC’s Nightly News on Saturday, a huge milestone for both the 42-year-old journalist's career and gay rights history. Until the broadcast, an openly gay person had never anchored the nightly news on network TV.”
They urged people to watch “the historic broadcast.” Roberts has certainly made history in blurring every line between his gay advocacy and the notion of “objective” reporting, most recently in being grand marshal at a gay “Pridefest” in Norfolk, Virginia.
Likewise, at the gay magazine/website The Advocate, Dawn Ennis oozed:
NBC News pulled out its Nightly News anchor chair Saturday night for Thomas Roberts, the rugged and dashing MSNBC host who came out when it was still considered career suicide.
With millions watching, Roberts made history, as the first out anchor of an evening newscast on any of the major TV networks.
When contacted by The Advocate, Roberts, 42, was modest about his place in history, and deferred official comment to NBC brass. But in a private, on the record conversation with this reporter, who is a personal friend, Roberts confided that it was a “huge honor.”
His lead story was the controversial remarks by Donald Trump, insulting the war record of the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
Flawless, with his steely blue-eyes matching a trim-fitted pinstriped suit, Roberts waltzed through the 30-minute newscast with a firm but casual ease that attests to his experience both behind the anchor desk and as a journalist.
"He made it look easy," one fan commented online.
Roberts was asked in March if he was being groomed for this chance at the big chair, and he told The Advocate then: “They haven’t called yet. It would be historic, and I am willing and able... I’m working in the land of opportunity.”
It looks like that call finally came, and Roberts certainly gave NBC viewers a reason to watch.
The newscast bias-wise was notable for leading with Trump and finding time to cover the KKK and a Black Panthers offshoot both protesting at the state capital in South Carolina over the Confederate flag issue...but no time for the Planned Parenthood scandal.
