Maybe it’s too much to ask. But wouldn’t it be appropriate if mainstream electronic media, both local and national, would go back to identifying legitimate news subjects–on second reference–by their last name? Leave it for blatantly partisan hacks and pseudo political pundits to traffic in first-name familiarity.
I’ve heard countless anchor-desk references to “Trayvon” in the George Zimmerman trial. During the 2008 presidential election a weekend anchor of a local network affiliate told me that management had to send a memo to on-air staff to remind them to refer to John McCain’s opponent as “Obama” and not “Barack.” It made them sound like cable partisans. And recall all those “Saddam” references during the Gulf War.
Unless someone has achieved iconic longevity in the culture–Ike, Elvis, Oprah, for example–this largely has to do with non-traditional first names and careless, clueless newsreaders.