It was part time, one day a week. Saturdays. I did 30 second hourly news updates between cartoons. I forgot how much they paid me, but I do recall it wasn't a lot. I didn't care. Restlessness at my radio job was setting in and it was time to see what else was out there. It was a foot in the door, and I will be forever grateful to news director Jim DePury, who gave me the chance.
Advice for newbies, in any field: Take whatever you're given, do it the best you can, and things will turn out great. I took those little updates very seriously, which led to assignment desk work, which led to reporting and anchoring. The station offered a full time job a few months after I started. I declined. They came back with another offer a year later, and I took it.
Even after 30 TV years, it's still fun. News fascinates me. It's a thrill getting up in the morning (or late at night) and learning things I didn't know the day before. The business has changed considerably. The basics haven't. Be fair. Be accurate. No one will ever complain if you make something too easy to understand. It's not about me. It's all about the story.
Thanks for watching and being exceptionally kind over the decades. Let's keep it going.
