Jessica Savitch Quotes

The bad news is that 50 people died in a hotel fire; the good news is that we got exclusive footage.

Texas was defined by its larger-than-life characters, particularly politicians.

When I was a little girl in the 1950s, it would not have been possible for me to say, I want to be an anchorwoman when I grow up.

Being a novelty had its advantages.

No matter how many goals you have achieved, you must set your sights on a higher one.

Walking into a room filled with people you don't know but who know you brings out your worst vulnerabilities.

Mistakes are not always the result of someone's ineptitude.

I have had a lifelong phobia of snakes.

When I first anchored in 1970, I had never seen a woman anchor a news show.

A fact of modern life is that it takes women longer to get ready than men.

I don't exactly know what it means to be ready. A cake when the oven timer goes off? Am I fully baked, or only half-baked?

What is the value of sticking a microphone in a man's face right after he has learned of his wife's death?

I very much wanted to be accepted by my peers, to be considered a serious journalist.

News reporting is a cycle: No matter how much you work at sending a message, it's only successful if it's received.

To get it first is important - but more important is to get it right.

In the beginning, my mother humored me when I told her I wanted to be a reporter.

In real life, events seem much less dramatic.

Women were seldom given quality assignments or adequate air time.

Newscasters cannot call attention to themselves by being too attractive or too unattractive.

Our free enterprise system of disseminating information is collectively referred to as The Media. But there is no collective.

My goal was to be a network correspondent by the time I was 30.

When for so long you can't get a job for reasons that seem specious, you you finally do have it, you are constantly afraid of losing it.

News events are like Texas weather. If you don't like it, wait a minute.

The news anchor is exactly that - an anchor, a center, a focus.

Anyone who writes an autobiographical work at the age of 34 is, at best, presumptuous. It occurred to me that it was time to set the record straight.

In every interview I have ever read or seen or taken part in, the final question in our future-oriented society is always, What next?

The idea of stardom was difficult to grasp. It was like being schizophrenic; there was her, the woman on television, and the real me.

I hadn't realized until I covered the police beat just how seedy crime is.

Shootouts are not gunfights of honor, they're gang wars and racial riots.

News events cannot be controlled, nor can newscasts be mapped out like entertainment shows.

Some news managers have been slow to grasp that good television news is always substance over form.

The minute viewers callin or write about your looks, they were not listening to what you were saying.

You can easily die racing to cover a bank robbery as you can in a war zone.

It is my belief that one's salary is between an individual and the IRS.

The code of the road is, if there is anything to eat, eat; if there is a place to sit, sit; if there is a restroom, go.

Many senators have developed a canny sense of what will play best for the audience.

For every two minutes of glamour, there are eight hours of hard work.

Every time I am in danger of believing the glamour of my own press, some incident inevitably brings me back to earth.

My most lucrative job in college was a stint as the regional Dodge Girl.

Television news is a delicate balance of serving public good and private gain.

Women may not have it easy, but we are given a fairer chance to reach for the top.

The single life is not one I willingly chose for myself.

I worked half my life to be an overnight success, and still it took me by surprise.

Men still control the news, both on and off camera.

Television is intensely personal.

One reason I left local news was that I was tired of the constant musical chairs among news directors.

Women didn't want to watch other women on television because they were jealous of their husbands' diverted attention.

The better the coverage, the more discriminating the viewer.

It had not occurred to me that marriage requires the same effort as a career. And unlike a career, marriage requires a joint effort.

How valuable NBC Magazine was in my career is questionable.

A press card does not provide you with an invisible shield. You're flesh and blood.

The most important event I covered was the Panama Canal debate, which dragged on for months.

The relationship between talent and management is uneasy, at best.

The latest wrinkle is on wrinkles. There is a widespread belief that women can't grow old in television news.

My current goal is to place a moratorium on goals.

By far my most perilous assignment was covering a tank car explosion.