News Buff   

First male anchor joins NakedNews.com.

AT LAST. Men have joined the anchor team at NakedNews.com.

It was women only at the undressed online news site until Lucas Tyler, former investment adviser, debuted on April 12 wearing nothing but a microphone.

Naked News hired Tyler, 33, in response to dozens of requests from female viewers, says company spokeswoman Kathy Pinckert. He had to pass two auditions, one with shorts and one without.

At a time when news sites have been dumping employees, Toronto-based Naked News has been hiring. In recent months, three women, Tyler--who says his pay is "comparable" to his previous job--and Warren Michaels, a second male anchor who started May 7, have joined the company, bringing the talent total to nine.

Launched in December 1999, Naked News drew 1.6 million unique visitors in March, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. Pinckert, however, says the site drew 6 million. A small view of the Webcasts is free; subscribers get a full-screen shot. The site's attracted a lot of media attention lately, including a pictorial in Playboy's June issue.

"I'm not a nudist. I never got nude and [did] anything in front of other people" before the second audition, Tyler says. "It was unnerving, trying to read off that TelePrompTer.... But once the clothes came off, you kind of forget a little bit that you're standing there naked." The fact that none of the newsreaders has any journalism experience isn't really important, Pinckert says. "We're looking for people who have a certain je ne sais quoi."

Those qualities go into their delivery and, for some, on-camera disrobing (others just stand there naked reading while the camera pulls back slowly to a full-body shot). Five news writers and taped newscasts allow the anchors to concentrate on performing. The news stories come from Comtex News Network, an Alexandria, Virginia-based source of international news for businesses.

Tyler says that though he's always been a news junkie, "reading countless papers every day" in his old job, he doesn't consider himself a journalist. He quit his banking job in December to find a more creative line of work, he says. "Three months ago I'm buying stocks, now I'm reading fan mail."

His family and friends, Tyler says, look at his new job the way he does--as a great opportunity. "I think I chose the perfect vehicle to throw me out there and shake things up."