Meanings
plural rip-and-readers
- derogatoryslangbroadcastingA newsreader or station that delivers the news in a formulaic, uninspired manner.
News director Griff Potter says he wants “a journalist, not a rip-and-reader. Someone who understands that highlights, runs, and errors are boring television.”
2012, Bradley Schultz, Sports Media: Reporting, Producing, and Planning, page 2542 more examples
In between the all-news stations and the rip-and-readers are a substantial number of stations which sometimes have one or two newsmen and which try to do a respectable job with a limited budget.
1977, Ronald G. Hicks, A Survey of Mass Communication, page 145Leave the rip-and-readers to the tender mercies of the Associated Press. Major market radio and television stations are another matter entirely. Their news interests and requirements are similar to those of newspapers.
1987, Presstime, volume 9, numbers 1-6, page 15
Origin
Suggesting the tearing off and reading of printed sheets from incoming news transmissions.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
rip-and-reader. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip-and-reader
“rip-and-reader.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip-and-reader. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “rip-and-reader,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/rip-and-reader.
Source: rip-and-reader on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.