Why are eastern european tv reporters so serious?

Question

Unlike BBC, NBC when they greet viewers they smile. In eastern european channels (polish, russian...) they give a notion of being so serious that omg, they don't smile. Just good evening and give this killer eye look. Are those communist smiles or what?

Answer 1

To be honest, unless you are part of the elite there is not much to smile about!

Answer 2

In those cultures (my former culture) smiling for no reason is a subtle way of showing lack of intelligence.  So to convey confidence to their viewers they avoid smiling.