“The silent sadness of the CBS newswoman’s face at 0:29… hilarious. So funny that these newsfolk don’t activate actorly skills to project the appearance of professionalism and neutrality.”
—Attorney/blogger Ann Althouse, commenting on the doleful expression on CBS newswoman Norah O’Donnell’s face after the report that the network’s focus group of undecided voters scored last night’s debate a victory for Mitt Romney.
The video:
Althouse’s observation is perceptive, as hers often are. Although many studies have found that the facial expressions, body language and vocal inflections of broadcast news journalists influence audience perceptions and opinions, and carry at least as much potential for bias and slanted reporting as the news content itself, few of O’Donnell’s colleagues, if any, make any effort to ensure that these non-verbal communications are objective as a matter of professionalism and fairness. This is because broadcast journalism has largely abandoned fairness, objectivity and professionalism as priorities or industry standards.
As a professional, O’Donnell should have been trained to keep her personal emotions and opinions removed from her vocal and physical delivery of any news story. Theater critics, for example, are usually required to avoid laughing, applauding and otherwise revealing their opinions of theatrical performances while they are observing them, leaving their assessment to be expressed in the published reviews alone. On TV, however, dispassionate, objective and factual reporting has yielded to self-indulgent, undisciplined facial and vocal commentary on every fact that escapes most reporters’ mouths. Why is that important? Because it projects bias and undermines trust, as well as slanting the reporting itself. O’Donnell’s message wasn’t, “Romney won over our focus group,” but, thanks to her delivery, rather “Romney won over our focus group, and that’s bad.”
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Source: Althouse
Ethics Alarms 
Honestly: O’Donnell’s expression did not seem silently sad to me – more like a poker face. Charlie Rose’s face seemed more nakedly grim. My all-time favorite “disappointed TV face” was ABC’s Frank Reynolds on Election Night in 1980; his entire countenance, manner, and tone of voice were – I regret as I admit, because at the time, I felt a tad sadistic toward him – side-splittingly funny to me. It was as if he had to swallow and stammer each time he found it impossible to avoid saying “…Governor…Ronald Reagan…”
Professionals are becoming few and far between in the “objective media”.