Portsmouth Personality B,TAKAiAWEiGHT
In tracing the career of an
attractive, personable, and
successful ancborperson for a
network affiliate, one might
think that such a career is
glorious and basically easy.
However, according to Diana
Morgan.Co-Anchor for “The
Daily News” (WA\TT TV.
Portsmouth Virginia t, the job
is not as simple as the
viewers think.
MS. Morgan grew up in the
Southside of Chicago under
strict parental guidance. The
eldest of three children.
Diana's educational
background was influenced
by. as she puts it. "A long line
of elementary school
teachers." She majored in
Elementary Education at the
University of Illinois. Her
career goals in education
were somewhat interrupted
when she obtained a job at a
newspaper in her hometown.
This job, which was obtained
strictly by accident, gave
Diana insight into her writing
capabilities. She worked
there about a year and a half
as a general reporter and
columnist, until the local
office moved to another
location.
Morgan’s next plunge in
media was that of a news
reporter for WCFL--a local
rock radio station in Chicago.
She remembers “literally
begging” for this job. and she
did. “The first job they sent
me out on was a news con
ference for Mayor Richard
Daley.” Morgan says.
recalling her intense
fear.“but he was so nice...and
that sort of boosted my ego
and made me a little more
comfortable with the job.”
Diana says that this was
probably the most exciting
job in her career because she
worked in radio in Chicago, a
city where there’s “all kinds
of news,” and the type of
people that “speak their
minds regardless of whether
you like it or not.” A little
over a year later, Diana and
about V4 of the personnel
working at WCFL lost their
jobs to automation.
From here, the novice
reporter fell back on her
Bachelor’s Degree and began
substitute teaching. She best
described this exp>erience as
“a jungle,” and became
disillusioned with teaching
because of lack of student
interest and lack of teaching
supplies. Meanwhile, her
interests were still directed
toward broadcasting.
Diana, realizing after
mailing numerous resumes to
local radio and tv stations,
that she could not get a job in
Chicago, began sending
resumes around the country.
She got a response from
WFIE-TV in Evansville,
Indiana, and went to the
small town for her first
television audition. “I was so
scared that I didn’t make a
single mistake!” Two days
later, she accepted a job
there as a reporter. Being a
reporter at WFIE also meant
being a photographer and an
editor for her own stories.
Three or so months went by.
and Diana was offered an
additional job co-anchoring
on weekends. This caused a
problem for her because the
anchor who had been working
there for three years by
himself made her feel verj-
uncomfortable on the set. “It
was the old Barbara
Walters/Harry Reasoner
syndrome...But it just made
me try harder to do a good
job. I said ‘if I can get
through this ordeal with him,
I can survive.’ So I w ent out of
my way to be nice...and we
had a workable relationship.”
But being in a small town
didn’t appeal to the Chicago
native, and after a year and
eight or so months, she sent
out tapes to look for'ianother
job. However, she became
discouraged after having no
positive responses. “It was a
job in itself, finding another
job.”
The television station in
Evansville taped one of
Diana’s broadcasts and sent
it to Frank Magid Associates-
-a consulting firm that sends
tapes to their clients around
the country. A station in
Nashville, Tennessee saw
Diana’s tape through Magid
and contacted her for an
interview. “At that point, I
was ready to go anywhere to
get out of Evansville,”
Morgan recalled. “They flew
me down there and back in a
private plane and I was sick
as a dog...Anyway, 1 ended up
taking the job, even though I
didn’t like one aspect of the
job. and that was that. I
would be a morning anchor
and I had to start at five
a.m....I am not a morning
person at all." While in Nash
ville. Morgan reported five
times a week, and did a talk
show twice a week
The young television
personality b^ame disen
chanted after encountering
problems in .Nashville, which
included physical illness from
0%'erworking. so she quit and
returned home. Diana taught
for a while, and then began to
miss TA'. so again she sent out
tapes, this time being more
selective in accepting a new
position.
Champaign. Illinois was the
location of Diana’s next
broadcasting job. There she
w as a reporter and weekend
anchor. .After about three
months, she began anchoring
the 6:00 p.m. news show, and
then the 5:00. 6:00. and 10:00
p.m. shows. “I got a lot of
anchor practice.” remem
bers Morgan. “I w as the first
black woman or man that
they’d ever had in the anchor
slot.”
Still working in a small
market in Champaign, the
spirited co-anchor wanted to
move to a larger news
market. Her tapes and
resumes flooded the mail
once more, and W.WY-TV in
Portsmouth, Virginia con
tacted her. She was hired as
a co-anchor for “The Daily
News” on a hope that the new
structure for the news shows
at WAVY would bring their
ratings up. Diana reported
for about three months until
an anchor was hired. “I was
so glad when Bob Grip got
here, I could have
screamed!” she adds,
Diana began anchoring the
noon and 6:00 p.m. shows at
WAVY, and then the 6:00 and
11:00 p.m. shows after her
superiors decided that she
and Bob Grip should be
promoted as a team. In
speaking of the first airing of
“The Daily News,” Ms."
Morgan recalls the tension
involved. “Everybody was
depending on us so much. I
got laryngitis a week before I
went on the air, and I don’t
know whether it was from
fear or what...There was a
question as to whether or not I
was going to have my voice
back...but I was very ner
vous. I was so nervous that I
didn’t make any mistakes
again!” And the rest is
history for “The Daily
News.” Ratings are up, and
WAVY-TV’ is only about five
points behind the leading
network news show.
As for Diana, she is en
joying her current anchoring
position at WAVY, and gels
along well with her co-
workers. She says that
recognition in Tidewater is
much more prevalent than
anywhere else she has
worked. “I had this little kid
five years old scream and tell
his mother. ‘Look, that's the
Lady on “The Daily News.’"
And so the frustration and
sacrifice was well worth the
wait for this popular
Tidewater co-anchor.
.As can be seen by the long
road Diana had to travel,
television is no easy job. She
says that unljke popular
belief, being a double
minority now makes no
difference. ‘ There are so
many talented black females
in thi5 business now that you
cannot have any kind of
advantage over anyone
else...It’s hard to get a job in
this business. You can look
for a job for a year before
finding one...you can send out
a hundred resumes at a time,
and maybe 18 of those will
want to see a tape, and then
maybe one of them will be
interested after seeing a tape.
So. it’s hard.”
“It takes a lot of dedication
and determination,” Morgan
adds, “because after being
kicked down so many times
and getting all those rejec
tions. just an average person
would probably feel insecure
and say ‘Well. I'm not going
to tr>- anymore cause I’m
tired of being rejected.’ But
you have to realize from the
start that you're going to be
rejected.” .And Diana learned
her new philosophy of
television news; it is a
cosmetic form of en
tertainment. No matter what
kind of day you’re having, or
how bad you feel, you have to
“Push that personality
button” and keep a youthful
look in order to survive,
because “People expect you
to look the same every
night.”
When asked what piece of
advice she could give to
FK)tential media personalities,
Diana simply replies, “Don’t
get into the business if you
won’t see it through.”
And so. Tidewater has a
new and exciting anchor to
watch, and Diana Morgan has
a satisfying career. As for the
future, Diana wishes for
“good things,” and hopes that
things at W.ANT continue to
progress.