jessica savitch and angry anchor and nbc

[*This essay, and the essys linked below, have evoked a lot of response from my readers. At the end of this essay is a diferent interpretation from mine, written by Ms. Audrey Burtrum-Stanley. She argues, as you will see, that Jessica's mannerisms are almost fully explicable from a "technical" rather than a "psychological" perspective. See below.]

The philosopher Mortimer Adler once said that the problem with life is that you have to live it forwards but, in fact, it only makes sense once you can replay it "backwards." When mired in the middle of things we muddle along, barely able to keep our heads above water, not feeling heroic and often feeling scarcely adequate to the demands on us. We careen from meeting to meeting, from appointment to appointment, with eyes glazing over and frustrations sometimes growing.

But sometimes we get to see a snapshot of someone else's life, caught on tape twenty-five years ago, and it evokes the most curiously mingled emotions within. That was my reaction when seeing this link, entitled "Angry Anchor," of Jessica Savitch, one of the first female news anchors, as she rehearsed a news segment and berated the staff at the same time. The emotions I felt as I watched and re-watched this tape were fascination, sadness, a certain sense of admiration, and an overwhelming desire to help this person whom no one seemingly was able to help. I thank my friend Alanna Nash, author of the gripping biography of Savitch (Golden Girl: The Life of Jessica Savitch, 1988), for bringing this clip to my attention. Why don't you view it now, before reading my next thoughts...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpVuxgSxFFE

Thoughts on Jessica

The clip isn't dated, and so we first have to figure out when it was filmed. I was misled at first by her reference to the big snow storm in Buffalo to think that this must have been in February 1977, when Buffalo got one of the worst snowfalls in its history. But Savitch didn't begin working for NBC News until September 1977, and the tone of the clip is that she had often faced the problem of inadequate staffing at NBC. Earlier stories in the clip give us the decisive clues. American hostages are mentioned. Bani-Sadr is mentioned, as is his successor as foreign minister. The hostages were taken on Nov. 4, 1979 and released on the inauguration of Ronald Reagan on January 20, 1981. Bani-Sadr was sworn in as President of Iran early in February 1980. Most likely this clip comes from late February 1980.

This means that Jessica Savitch had just turned 33 years old. She looks much older than that, even though her striking attractiveness is readily apparent. Two things stand out to me about the clip. First, is the fact that even when she is upset and not "at her best," she still is very impressive. In fact she is right that she should have had some staff around her to help get her prepared for the news "Update." I can't say whether the staffing absence was just one of the ways in that NBC News tried to undermine her or, more probably, that it just reflected carelessness in a network which didn't have high news ratings. But what is impressive about her is that even in her rehearsal she hits 42 seconds right on the button. She has a text; she has 42 seconds; she reads the text and it takes precisely 42 seconds. She recites the names of the Iranian foreign minister (Qotbzadeh) and the first name of Bani-Sadr (Abolhassan) with as much skill as preschool teachers recite nursery rhymes. Though her voice isn't "on air quality" in the rehearsal, we can easily tell that she reads with such a fluidty and fluency that hearers would even sometimes be mesmerized by her voice.

Second, however, we notice the way that she is frayed. We only know from Ms. Nash's book and other sources published after her death the extent of Savitch's drug dependence, relational dysfunction, personal insecurities, blind ambition and intolerance for people who were seemingly less talented than her . Now that we are aware of those realities we can look at her afresh and see in this brief clip a number of signals that all is not well with her. The three most apparent signals are her inability to sit still, her constant brushing her hair back off her collar and her fidgeting with her fingers. The mercurial style, in which she berates the staff for inefficiency and poor planning, is something that went back to her Houston days, when she was in her mid-20s. It is almost painful to watch her today, 23 years after her death, and realize that the problems which Ms. Nash has documented so thoroughly help to explain the mannerisms and nervous energy coming from her. What is remarkable, however, is her ability to move rather seamlesssly from expressions of frustration and anger to the controlled deliverer of the news. Surely she had learned long before how to submerge her person in the image of Jessica Savitch on the screen.

Conclusion

Though there are not enough other clips of her online to be able to speak with authority on the point, the two very brief segments that do exist show Jessica in 1977, while still in Philadelphia, and 1982, reporting for NBC in New York. Links to the clips are below, with the Philadelphia one first. Despite their brevity they show two different portraits of Jessica Savitch. The first, from Philadelphia, shows her as the breezy, confident, easily smiling, alluring anchor whose voice is as mellifluous as flowing honey. The second, from the year before her death, shows a more controlled Jessica who speaks the staccato language of NBC. The "Angry Anchor" segment shows her in her earlier in her NBC phase.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ydt_wxAi7w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYFahjIpm-c

Though neither the Philadelphia clip nor the 1982 NBC clip shows her about to disintegrate, the 2 minute 40 second NBC slice from 1980 shows a woman nearing the end of her rope. That rope would fray completely by 1983, when her personal and professional life came crashing down unceremoniously around her. The only thing that would have made the tragedy of Jessica Savitch more complete in 1983 would have been a bizarre death. And that is precisely what happened in October 1983.

2089

[*Here are the thoughts sent me by Ms. Burtrum-Stanley. See what you think.

"I happened across your writing this evening through GOOGLE, having looked up the name: 'Jessica Savitch'. I found your presentation interesting. I was moved to write you regarding one of your comments.

You addressed JS touching her hair several times in the video clip known as: 'ANGRY ANCHOR'. I have done a bit of television work and can clearly see she has an ear-piece with a long, straight (light-colored) cord that is giving her trouble. The ill-designed equipment is stiff and will not take her brushing it backwards and out of sight. The cord needed to be pulled (by an aide) behind her; it could then curtained from view by the flip of her coif. JS's action is not merely a hair-touching-fixation but is actually her attempt to adjust the studio's broadcasting equipment.

A 'true professional' - such as JS - checks her in-studio monitor and tugs her apparel wrinkles away, smoothes her hair, checks her makeup (no shiny forehead) and makes adjustments to her text till the red light goes on... Remember, if something goes wrong, she is the one in front of the camera looking like a fool not the person out of camera-range who messed her up!

Although it is true that fidgeting with one's hairdo may be a sign of nervousness or some uncontrollable habit, in this case the woman - journalist - perfectionist - beauty was merely trying to work with the studio's errant equipment. Had JS had the prompt assistance she kept asking for, this would not have been a problem."

Then, after viewing the clip again, she wrote this:

"OK - I should have looked at the clip one-more-time prior to responding. The OTHER comment I have to make regarding how professional JS is in this brief presentation, you will note she glances to the right corner of the picture (her left - low area). She is looking at herself on a monitor and see she is blocking the news screen. She quickly rolls her chair to the side symmetrically framing the over-all TV window.

She does push her script pages around the table top more than usual and toys with her pencil; but then again, this was just a run-through - she was agitated because the studio crew was not ready - and, she was about to go on-air nationwide! The woman is making corrections to the news text - after commenting it 'runs fast.' JS is cutting a few words or excess phrases; this is so she will have more time to breathe, emphasize thoughts (by a facial expression, a tilt of her head, etc...) and better present the differences in the individual stories through a slight altering in the tone of her voice as well as a pause. This broadcasting ability is 'a gift' - few people can be taught this and an even smaller number are just born with the talent.

As you can see, there is a great deal more to a 42 second news blurb than just a quick swipe through a few sentences. The shame of this situation is that there are not more video clips of Jessica Savitch at her best instead of this off-air/behind-the-scenes moment. (Perhaps the even bigger question is: 'Why was this videotaped? Who saved it all these years? Why has it been presented to YOUTUBE? Was her career being sabotaged by jealous, mean network employees? Is there really an enjoyment or something to be learned from embarrassing a dead woman? With media friends/co-workers like these - in this studio - is there any question why Jessica Savitch may have occasionally tried to escape in a drugged fog?)"