“I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise.” ~Jessica Savitch
“The better the coverage, the more discriminating the viewer.” ―Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitch, February 1, 1947 - October 23, 1983
http://youtu.be/viJ3dsvCP1Y Jessica Savitch NBC News Update 1978
http://youtu.be/b03y6djkbW4 Jessica Savitch NBC News Broadcast Easter 1979
http://youtu.be/TcgAb3-euGU Jessica Savitch NBC from April 1983
http://youtu.be/pNCKabsDWPY Jessica Savitch Biography~Lifetime Portrait
Thirty years ago, when I was in college at The University of Florida, in the College of Journalism and Communications, I remember thinking how good things were for young women. We were breaking glass ceilings and the possibilities for women of my generation were very promising, because of our foremothers. Most notably for me at the time was that Katharine Graham owned and ran The Washington Post; Sandra Day O’Connor had been recently appointed to the United States Supreme Court; I had seen Barbara Walters co-anchor the evening news on ABC; Gloria Steinem had begun Ms. Magazine, and I’d met her at The University of Florida — even got to ask her a question at an open forum, which still thrills me to this day. When I think back on it, within that year, we’d see a woman, Geraldine Ferraro, step onto the national stage and be nominated as a Vice-Presidential running mate for the Democratic party in a national election; and, women were making many in-roads in the broadcasting and journalism arena. There were three women in the area of broadcast journalism who I paid close attention to at the time, because of the field I was going into: Diane Sawyer, Linda Ellerbee and Jessica Savitch.
It is the latter who this blog entry is about today. For those of you who do not know or remember Jessica Savitch, she was a blonde-haired beauty from Pennsylvania with a Grace Kelly air about her. She had that same regal presence and cool command of both her poise and articulation. Her rise with NBC was meteoric, and I fully expected to see her sitting in the week-night evening news anchor chair within five years.
I remember reading once somewhere that people “behind the scenes” said she was “bitchy” and “difficult”. It amused me because you never read that kind of thing about men who demanded that the product they put out be 100% accurate, be the best, and be stellar! You NEVER heard that about them: “Oh, he’s a REAL prick! He’s difficult! Watch out for him!” It’s just one more injustice in business that women have had to endure and put up with that men have not. Ms. Savitch handled the criticism in a classy way.
Case in point. I believe it was on The Phil Donahue show, but don’t hold me to that, because I don’t have the archival footage to back up and support my claim. However, she was on a talk show and was asked about the allegations that she was difficult to work with and, could sometimes be a “bitch.” I never forgot her answer because it was brilliant, and I gained a new respect for her in that moment. She said, and I’m going to paraphrase, because I remember the jist of it like it was yesterday, and I swear she said it to Phil, so, I’m going to go with that. In essence, here is what she said:
“I really think that we need to move away from the classification of ‘difficult’ or ‘bitchy’ because it’s unfair to women. The correct terms we should be using are ‘acceptable’ and ‘unacceptable’ in this industry. Don’t give sub-par work to a woman that you would never give to a male colleague in equal standing to her, be called out for doing that to her by the woman, then castigate her for doing it with inappropriate labels, when you would never consider doing that to her male counterpart. It’s an issue of respect. If I bring my best to this table for the job we are about to do, then I expect you to bring your best to the table as well. If you don’t, it’s unacceptable to me, because I’ve worked hard to get here, and I expect the same professional consideration that you would give to David or to John.”
I remember thinking, “YOU GO GIRL!” Her answer was right on the money. I’ve used her analogy in my own working life when I’ve heard people refer to a woman as “difficult” or “bitchy’. It has given people pause who I’ve asked the question of: “why does it have to be that SHE is being difficult or bitchy instead of she’s simply not being accepting of a sub-standard work ethic?” It’s an idea that still resonates....30 years later. It’s a classification that we’ve not changed yet, but hopefully some day it will...
Not everyone liked her. She rose too quickly, some thought. She didn’t pay her dues, others believed. Blah. Blah. Blah. I think the woman had a pound of flesh taken out of her at every turn, and if you know anything about the tragedies of her life, you’ll understand that statement. Granted, she made some bad decisions along the way, but I felt compassion for her. It’s something my parent’s taught me to do - have compassion for others in their moments of trouble.
Jessica’s tragedies started early in her life: her father died suddenly when she was only 12, and her family uprooted and moved from Pennsylvania to New Jersey. A faculty advisor told her that she’d never make it in broadcast journalism because she was a woman. She didn’t let it derail her or stop her from the goals she’d set for herself.
Her public persona and her private life certainly didn’t match up. On camera, she was golden. In private, she was flawed, and those flaws led to tragedy after tragedy. She was married twice within a three-year period. She divorced her first husband after only 14 months. Shortly thereafter, in March of 1981, she married her second husband, a doctor. I remember hearing that she’d suffered a miscarriage several months into that marriage. It wasn’t long after that miscarriage that her second husband committed suicide. She found him hanging in the basement of their home on August 2, 1981, and later told friends that he blamed her hectic schedule for the miscarriage. He obviously had some psychological problems going on that many were unaware of.
In a People magazine article shortly after her death, they reported, That tragedy sent Jessica into a tailspin. "After that, she was never quite the same," says one close friend. Agrees Barbara King: "She wanted it to work and I think she loved him as much as she could love someone." Following the funeral, Savitch retreated to the home of her former co-anchor Mort Crim in Grosse Pointe, Mich. But she stayed only a week before returning to work. Her sleep was ruined by nightmares; the studio was her sanctuary. "It was as if she had no other existence outside of when the red light was on," says a New York colleague.
It wasn’t long before rumors of drug and alcohol use and abuse began to surface and plague her. I never listen to those type rumors because, well, you just don’t know, and it’s unfair to give credence to rumors like that about someone. Then, on October 3, 1983, there was the unfortunate Sunday night live news brief telecast. {You can view it on YouTube} It was only about a minute long, but it was long enough to do its damage and give some validity to all those nasty rumors that had followed her for a few years. Her speech was slurred; her eyes were glassy. Personally, I thought she was slightly drunk. Others said she was high on Cocaine. Who knows for certain? What is certain is that it was both unfortunate and tragic that anyone there that night who saw her in that condition would have let her take to the airwaves. She was in trouble. That much was evident. Whether the tragedies of the previous couple of years had finally caught up to her or the mounting pressure of her $500,000/year contract expiration loomed large overhead, coupled with the fact that Connie Chung had just arrived onto the scene and been given her weekend news anchor spot, reducing Jessica’s air-time to a weekend minute news brief throughout the evening, or she knew that people were whispering that she was showing rapid signs of aging — a death sentence to a female anchorwoman, {“she’s aged 10 years in the last five...” was the criticism loudly heard} Jessica was obviously not as confident in her carriage as she typically had been known to be. That night, she didn’t bring her best to the table. By her own standards, she should not have been permitted to sit down at that news desk. It saddened me.
I didn’t know a lot, at that point, about love and loss, but even in my short 20 years of life, I knew this much: it only takes a minute to unravel what it can take years to build. I felt for her, in that moment. I was angry that someone in that studio, on that night, had not protected her from herself, because in THAT moment, that’s exactly who she needed protection from. She had mistakenly allowed her private life’s drama to seep over into her professional life's responsibilities. It was a gross miscalculation on her part to believe that she was able to go on-air that evening. We all make mistakes though. Each of us is human. Not one of us is immune to a moment of personal frailty. That night–that moment was one of hers. The network’s miscalculation was in not looking out for her professionally. They looked as bad as Ms. Savitch did. Make no mistake about that. I wish someone in power that night would have told her she couldn’t go on! It would have been refreshingly honorable for them to have given her such a consideration in her moment of need. It was a lesson to all who were watching.
Notwithstanding, friends of hers said that she was in a good place in her life. She’d met a new man, and had hopes of having a family one day. She wasn’t deterred by things happening with her career. There was a possibility that she would fill-in for Jane Pauley who was soon taking maternity leave. She was widely respected among the viewing audience – a recent 1982 TV Guide poll named her “one of the most trusted news anchors in the country, above many of the most established male anchors of the era.” She was tenacious in her desire and her drive. If she’d suffered a set-back, many who knew her believed that she would not be down for long. I think I heard Linda Ellerbee openly state as much, in the aftermath of that early October faux pas, and I took comfort in hearing it.
Shortly thereafter, on another Sunday night, just three weeks later, the ultimate tragedy came to claim her.
I awoke on Monday, October 24th to my radio reporting that NBC’s weekend anchorwoman, Jessica Savitch, had been killed in an automobile accident the previous evening along with her boyfriend, New York Post Vice President, Martin Fischbein, and her dog. Apparently, they had spent the day in Pennsylvania antiquing before enjoying a meal at Chez Odette’s Restaurant before heading back to New York at approximately 7:15 p.m.; Martin Fischbein was driving with Jessica and her dog, Chewy, in the back seat. Reports stated that it had begun to rain heavily. Apparently Mr. Fischbein drove out of the wrong exit and up the towpath of the old Pennsylvania Canal’s Delaware Division, veering too far to the left and went over the un-barricaded edge, falling about 15 feet down into the shallow and muddy waters of the canal. The car landed upside down, sealing the doors shut, and trapping Savitch and Fischbein inside - sealing their fates.
I remember bolting up in my bed, suddenly becoming wide awake, as an “oh my God!” escaped from my mouth, and I scrambled to turn on Good Morning America to hear more of the unbelievable news. It was a shocking end to a young life marked with extreme highs and lows. [Note: the Bucks County coroner ruled that both had died from asphyxiation by drowning. He also noted that there was no finding that drugs or alcohol had played any part in the crash.]
Then, I remember something eery happened. As the news was reporting about the untimely death of Jessica Savitch, the clock radio, set to ease me into my day with music, played in the background, “Don’t Cry Out Loud” by Melissa Manchester. I don’t know if you’ve ever listened to the words of that song, but it was haunting in that moment, and I did what the song cautioned me not to do: I cried. I didn’t just cry. I cried for her! It was a loss – one of those stupid, senseless ones. She was so young–just 36. She had SO much more to give! We had so much more to learn from her! As stated, it was a GREAT loss, and I felt it-deeply!
Thirty years ago, I sat in my apartment in Gainesville, Florida on an early October Monday morning that had begun ALL wrong, crying and thinking of the golden haired news girl from Pennsylvania, who, for one brief moment, had stood on the cusp of grasping hold of that brass ring we all dream of...of flying high and proud...of almost having it all....
http://youtu.be/OWiXyAAw1Ek Don’t Cry Out Loud~Melissa Manchester
http://www.jessicasavitch.com/ Please check out this website if you’d like to learn more about Jessica Savitch. She was a trailblazer...
Except from a 1979 Commencement Address at Ithaca College [Her Alma Mater]:
“...There is an Elton John song, one of his lesser known songs. The line goes: ‘I work for the foundry for a penny and a half a day. Like a blind street musician, I never see those who pay.’
No longer do we answer directly to each other for the jobs we do. More often than not, we answer to a middle line management person – a person who may or may not have the high standards of excellence. Like the blind street musician, we never see the people who would benefit, or even those who pay us our salaries unless we are doctors, or lawyers, or perhaps small shop keepers who deal directly with the public. It has become increasingly difficult for each of us to set and maintain excellent standards.
In my own industry, I, too, am like the blind street musician. My job as a broadcaster is to serve the interest, convenience and necessity of the viewers. The people who own the airwaves on which my network is licensed to program. Yet I never actually see most of those people. If I don’t do the best job possible, ultimately I will be replaced. But on a daily basis, who is to monitor my performance?
The answer I have found to pursuing excellence is increasingly to be found within. At the top of every field I have observed as a reporter is a person who does the job, not because it pays well, not because it makes the person famous, but because doing the job makes the person happy. And a person happy in his or her work is usually successful. And success often brings with it may of the tangible rewards — as byproducts.
Although rare, there are examples of the pursuit of excellence in our own times. The courage of conviction is not easy in any career, and it is particularly difficult in public life, where, no matter what course of action is taken, at least some of the public will disagree.
Probably the most graphic example in the world today was the Sadat Peace Initiative into Israel. Anwar El Sadat personally lost a brother, a bomber pilot, during the 6-Day War. He was shot down by Israeli fighters. So surely there was opposition to the Israeli treaty within Sadat’s family as well as within his party. Lifelong hatreds are not easily wiped out, and within the block of Arab nations, Sadat’s Egypt was, and is now, alone in its wish for peace with Israel. Other Arab nations threatened and made good on an economic boycott of Egypt. With all that against him, Sadat went ahead. Part of it was smart politics. Sadat realized the ongoing war with Israel was sapping his country economically, and emotionally, and an end to the fighting could mean a chance to build up economic resources. Also, there was the fact that the United States actively favored a peace treaty. And to bring that about would probably mean increased economic aid from the United States for Egypt. But not to be discounted was Sadat’s own belief that there had been enough war, enough killing, and whatever the political and personal price, peace was worth it. Sadat believed it. And he acted upon it to all our good – because an end to any war brings us closer to becoming a truly civilized global culture.
Menachem Begin, too, weighed the risks. He had been victimized by Nazi Germany, and fled to the mideast desert to help carve out a safe piece of ground for his people. Begin had learned from the Nazis that enemies could never be trusted, and it was a risk for him to trust this new enemy. Begin also encountered opposition from the Kinesset. He was also opposed by Israelis who had lost members of their families fighting the Egyptians, as well as those who had worked to make homes in the hard-won occupied territories.
But, like Sadat, Begin held to his conviction that peace was of paramount importance, and ultimately, both men acted on their convictions.
To some extent, it was President Carter’s risk. Each president has a moment when diplomacy must eclipse politics. As Bob Dylan wrote: ‘Sometimes even the President of the United States must stand naked.’ That was perhaps Mr. Carter’s moment. Here at home, we were and are in an economic domestic crisis. The President’s standing in the polls was at that time not the best. For President Carter to have personally gone and engaged in shuttle diplomacy and failed would have severely damaged US power and prestige with other nations. It could well have had a strong bearing on the outcome of the SALT negotiations. It was a calculated risk. To be seen as a peacemaker would have helped Mr. Carter somewhat. To be seen as a failure would have been disastrous. The President, too, must be credited for acting on what he said he believed to be the only right course of action — pursue peace — no matter the odds….
My own personal view of a person who pursued excellence and did not lower her standards was Francis ‘Sissy’ Farenthold. Mrs. Farenthold of Texas was a state representative who ran for governor in 1972 against Dolph Briscoe. In that same year, she was the only woman placed in nomination for the Vice President at the Democratic National Convention. She later went on to head the National Women’s Political Caucus and is now President of Wells College in Aurora, New York.
When I met her, she was running for governor. A woman – in a state known for its tough, two-fisted, male politics. Farenthold was running as a liberal in a very conservative state, and she was running for her party’s nomination against a millionaire landowner. But there was dissent in the Texas Democratic party then. A Watergate-type stock fraud scandal had swept the state. Party leaders told Farenthold she was going into the race with at least an outside chance. But, she was told, she’d have to play the game. Drop her standards. Make political deals to win election. She refused. And she lost. But with it all, she lost by a narrow margin. And many political observers say she did better than if she had made the deals.
Francis Farenthold paved the way for other women in politics in Texas and across the country. And she showed one young reporter that it was possible to be strong and honest, and feminine, and work successfully in what was traditionally an all-male field, be it politics or broadcast journalism.
And as a broadcast journalist, my role in life is not to be a doer of great things, but rather a chronicler of those who do. And it appears to me that all of those people who pursue excellence with the strength of their convictions live out their lives typified by one basic idea. The Biblical ‘do unto others.’ Voltaire’s ‘all things are possible.’ The Jefferson theory of democracy.
But the one I like the best, the one that hangs above my desk, and the one I have chosen to share with you, is by Theodore Roosevelt. The President who perhaps best typified the pursuit of excellence through rugged individualism. He said: ‘Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.’
Do what you can: You leave here with a foundation of skills and experiences. Build on them. Become involved. Stretch. Grow. Take advantage of all the choices and opportunities that are now open to both sexes.
Do what you can, with what you have: Know your strengths and employ them. Find your weaknesses and shore them up. If you do not know your strengths and weaknesses, invest some time in learning.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are: No one is ever exactly where they want to be. Healthy dissatisfaction, desire for something better, is the catalyst for change – the main ingredient of accomplishment. On the other hand, constant discontent with where you are, or pretending you are elsewhere, keeps you from enjoying the present. Set your goals, work toward them, but enjoy the process of getting there. Pause to smell the flowers along the way.
Do what you can, with what you have, where you are. It may not necessarily bring success. It often, however, brings the peace of mind that comes from knowing you have given it your best shot. It is the quote I have used in my own personal pursuit of excellence. No doubt you will find, or perhaps write, your own quote along the way.
Lifetime creeds, like commencement memories, are very personal things.
And so in the memories of this day that you will carry with you across the years, the sunshine glistening on the lake, the pride in your families’ eyes, the touch of a friend’s hand as you said goodbye – if in the bittersweet kaleidoscopic montage of those memories the name of you commencement speaker slips your mind, not to worry. For me, it is more than enough to have been able to share this day with you. You have bestowed upon me an honor few people ever achieve.
I wish you health, happiness, success, love, and the time to enjoy them all. And I wish for each of you that some time in your life will come a moment as wondrous as this one is for me.
Congratulations, God bless you, and from the bottom of my heart, I do thank you.”
October 23, 1983.
