Performing doesn’t turn me on. It’s an egomaniac business, filled with prima donnas - including this one.

Rather is distancing himself from the glamour of “performing” on camera and from the celebrity culture that can surround broadcast journalism. By calling it an “egomaniac business” populated by “prima donnas,” he frames on-air work as a field that rewards self-display and status-seeking as much as reporting skill. The parenthetical jab—“including this one”—adds self-awareness and undercuts moralizing: he admits he is not immune to the ego dynamics he criticizes. The remark functions as a defense of a reporter’s ideal (curiosity, verification, public service) over showmanship, while acknowledging the temptations and incentives of television news.