By: Sydnie C.
Monica Kaufman Pearson
is a television journalist, radio personality, and writer for the Southern
Seasons Magazine. In 1975, she overcame racial barriers in the media industry
when she became the first black woman to be an anchor on the six o’ clock news.
I recently was afforded the opportunity to interview Ms. Pearson. We discussed
her career, her inspirations, her advice for aspiring journalists and much
more.
Lime Green Giraffe: Who
or what inspired you to get involved in journalism?
Monica Kaufman Pearson: When
I was in high school, I worked on my high school newspaper. I also worked for a
newspaper called the Louisville Defender, which was a black
newspaper. But, to be honest, I didn’t think about a job in communications
because when I looked around at television and listened to radio, there were
not many people that looked like me or sounded like me. My bachelor’s degree is
in English and philosophy because I decided I was going to be a teacher.
At
that time, Diane Sawyer, who used to be on ABC’s nightly news was a weather
girl in Louisville, Kentucky, my home. At that point, women had not moved to
the anchoring position yet. The best she could do was to be a weather girl. The
times were a little different then what they are now.
LGG: Since
you were the first African American female on the six o’ clock news,
what are some examples of racist and sexist impediments that you had to face?
Pearson: The
first was when you come into a newsroom and there were other people of color in
the newsroom who felt that they should’ve had the opportunity for the job.
There can be some jealousy, and there can be some meanness. Then you have to
deal with an audience that is both black and white. There were black people who
thought that I wasn’t black enough because I didn’t have a huge fro…that was a
surprise. Then white people did not like me because they weren’t used to seeing
a woman on the evening news. They weren’t used to seeing a woman of color on
that show either. I wondered which was worse: the fact that I was woman or the
fact that I was an African American. It was a combination of the two that was
an affront to the many white people who watched. I remember one viewer saying
that I was not “deferential” enough to men because I had reached over during a
story and touched my white co-anchor. What I learned is that you can’t be all
things to all people. You have to always be true to yourself, have a sense of
value, have ethics that you live by.
LGG: What
mistakes do you think you made when you were a novice in journalism?
Pearson: The
first mistake I made and I’m glad I made it early in journalism, was never to
say anything around a microphone you wouldn’t want your mother to hear. I was
working in Louisville, Kentucky, and the weatherman, during a commercial break,
made an obscene comment about Dolly Parton. Everyone in Louisville and southern
Indiana heard me say the dirty word for feces on television during a commercial
break. When we came back from the commercial break, I immediately apologized. After
I got off the show, there were two calls. The first was my news director, who
was laughing. The second call was my mother, who said, “Monica Rosie Lee
Kaufman, why would you put something in your mouth you wouldn’t hold in your
hand?” Then she slammed the phone down. That was the biggest and first mistake
I ever made on the air.
LGG: During
my research, I read that you grew up in a family with a lot of strong women.
How do you think your upbringing led you to develop the resilience you would
need for this job?
Pearson: Faith.
My mom says that if you really believe in your faith, and if you really believe
in God, that if anything happens to you, just turn it over to Him. You do not
allow the opinions of others to move you from your faith. My mother used to say
to me all the time growing up, “It’s what you do, with what you have, that
makes you what you are. That when we’re created, we were created with
everything that we need to be successful.” Where we get hung up sometimes is we
let other people’s opinions about us change what we know we should be doing.
LGG: How
competitive is journalism?
Pearson: I
think it’s very competitive now because you’re required to do what I did when I
began. That’s being a one-man band. It means you shoot your story yourself, you edit it yourself, write it, you
produce it and you get it on the air. Today, you have to be a multi-platform
journalist and that’s exciting because you not only do a piece for radio but you
can do a piece for television or the newspaper, Snapchat, or Twitter. Multi-platform
journalism is opening up more jobs. As a beginning reporter, you have to be
able to do more than one thing.
LGG: What
advice would you give to aspiring journalists?
Pearson: The
first thing would be, research. Whenever you meet people, interview them. You
always have to show people that you’re interested in them and that you’ve done
your research. I hate when people aren’t prepared because it means that you
really didn’t care about the person you’re interviewing. You should have a real
love for people, curiosity, and be very good in your research.
In
your questions, you should always try to ask things that no one has ever asked.
If you’ve done your research, you’ll run up on something that you didn’t know
before. There is no such thing as a dumb, stupid, silly, or embarrassing
question. As long as it gets you information you didn’t have before, it’s a
good question. Now, have your questions, but don’t be tied to them.
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