The news anchor is exactly that – an anchor, a center, a focus.
About Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitchwas an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Savitch was one of the first women to anchor an evening network newscast alone, following in the footsteps of Marlene Sanders of ABC News and Catherine Mackin of NBC News.
More quotes from Jessica Savitch
Some news managers have been slow to grasp that good television news is always substance over form.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
I hadn’t realized until I covered the police beat just how seedy crime is.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The minute viewers callin or write about your looks, they were not listening to what you were saying.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Every time I am in danger of believing the glamour of my own press, some incident inevitably brings me back to earth.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
For every two minutes of glamour, there are eight hours of hard work.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
When I first anchored in 1970, I had never seen a woman anchor a news show.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The news anchor is exactly that – an anchor, a center, a focus.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
I very much wanted to be accepted by my peers, to be considered a serious journalist.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Never refuse an assignment except when there is a conflict of interest, a potential of danger to you or your family, or you hold a strongly biased attitude about the subject under focus.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Texas was defined by its larger-than-life characters, particularly politicians.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
When I was a little girl in the 1950s, it would not have been possible for me to say, I want to be an anchorwoman when I grow up.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
My current goal is to place a moratorium on goals.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Walking into a room filled with people you don’t know but who know you brings out your worst vulnerabilities.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
You can easily die racing to cover a bank robbery as you can in a war zone.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Many senators have developed a canny sense of what will play best for the audience.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Being a novelty had its advantages.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Television news is a delicate balance of serving public good and private gain.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
News reporting is a cycle: No matter how much you work at sending a message, it’s only successful if it’s received.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Anyone who writes an autobiographical work at the age of 34 is, at best, presumptuous. It occurred to me that it was time to set the record straight.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Newscasters cannot call attention to themselves by being too attractive or too unattractive.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
By far my most perilous assignment was covering a tank car explosion.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The code of the road is, if there is anything to eat, eat; if there is a place to sit, sit; if there is a restroom, go.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
In every interview I have ever read or seen or taken part in, the final question in our future-oriented society is always, What next?
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Women were seldom given quality assignments or adequate air time.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Mistakes are not always the result of someone’s ineptitude.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
My goal was to be a network correspondent by the time I was 30.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
A fact of modern life is that it takes women longer to get ready than men.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
News events are like Texas weather. If you don’t like it, wait a minute.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The idea of stardom was difficult to grasp. It was like being schizophrenic; there was her, the woman on television, and the real me.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
In real life, events seem much less dramatic.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The better the coverage, the more discriminating the viewer.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Although I was entirely relaxed on camera, if I had to stand up and say something to an assembled group of people, I was rendered all but inarticulate.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
What is the value of sticking a microphone in a man’s face right after he has learned of his wife’s death?
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Television is intensely personal.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Women didn’t want to watch other women on television because they were jealous of their husbands’ diverted attention.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The bad news is that 50 people died in a hotel fire; the good news is that we got exclusive footage.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The relationship between talent and management is uneasy, at best.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Shootouts are not gunfights of honor, they’re gang wars and racial riots.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
It had not occurred to me that marriage requires the same effort as a career. And unlike a career, marriage requires a joint effort.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
In the beginning, my mother humored me when I told her I wanted to be a reporter.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
I don’t exactly know what it means to be ready. A cake when the oven timer goes off? Am I fully baked, or only half-baked?
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
To get it first is important – but more important is to get it right.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
It is my belief that one’s salary is between an individual and the IRS.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
In interviews I gave early on in my career, I was quoted as saying it was possible to have it all: a dynamic job, marriage, and children. In some respects, I was a social adolescent.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
One reason I left local news was that I was tired of the constant musical chairs among news directors.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
How valuable NBC Magazine was in my career is questionable.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
I have had a lifelong phobia of snakes.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Men still control the news, both on and off camera.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The latest wrinkle is on wrinkles. There is a widespread belief that women can’t grow old in television news.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
News events cannot be controlled, nor can newscasts be mapped out like entertainment shows.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
When for so long you can’t get a job for reasons that seem specious, you you finally do have it, you are constantly afraid of losing it.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Women may not have it easy, but we are given a fairer chance to reach for the top.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The most important event I covered was the Panama Canal debate, which dragged on for months.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
The single life is not one I willingly chose for myself.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
A press card does not provide you with an invisible shield. You’re flesh and blood.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
Our free enterprise system of disseminating information is collectively referred to as The Media. But there is no collective.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)
My most lucrative job in college was a stint as the regional Dodge Girl.
American television news reporter (1947-1983)