1. Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
44 Facts About Jessica Savitch
1. 2.
Jessica Savitch hosted PBS's public affairs program Frontline from its January 1983 debut until her death in a car crash the following October.
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Jessica Savitch was known for her audience appeal and her skill as an on-camera news reader, although she drew criticism for her relative lack of journalism experience.
4.
Jessica Savitch was born on February 1,1947, in Wilmington, Delaware.
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Jessica Savitch's father was of Slavic and Jewish heritage and her maternal grandfather was of German and Russian Jewish heritage.
6.
Jessica Savitch died on May 11,1959, when he was 33 and Jessica was 12.
7.
Jessica Savitch was the first female disc jockey in the Pleasantville area.
8.
Jessica Savitch was an announcer for the college's television station, WICB, and worked in radio at nearby Rochester's WBBF.
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Jessica Savitch graduated from Ithaca College in 1968, but remained connected to the college, returning periodically to teach a mini-course on television news.
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In 1969, Jessica Savitch was hired as an administrative assistant at WCBS, the CBS Radio flagship news station in New York City, where she did freelance production work.
11.
Jessica Savitch received fewer than a dozen responses and only one job interview.
12.
When Jessica Savitch arrived at KHOU, she was the only female working in the news department other than one secretary; colleagues helped her learn the basics of her job.
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In 1972, Jessica Savitch joined KYW-TV, then the NBC affiliate in Philadelphia, as a general assignment reporter and weekend anchor under a five-year contract.
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Unlike the Houston station, this station was unionized, so Jessica Savitch was not permitted to do work other than on-camera newsreading and reporting.
15.
At the time KYW hired Jessica Savitch, it was under pressure from the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women to place more women in then-non-traditional roles on the local news or else face a possible legal challenge to its broadcast license.
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When she was initially unable to obtain a weeknight anchor shift, Jessica Savitch attempted to break her KYW contract and take a job offered by CBS in New York.
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Jessica Savitch soon began to anchor noon news broadcasts as well, and eventually became part of a popular team of three anchors with Mort Crim and Vince Leonard on the 11:00pm news.
18.
Jessica Savitch did her last newscast for KYW in August 1977.
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Jessica Savitch got along well with some members of the KYW staff, including her regular location shooting crew and her co-anchor Mort Crim.
20.
Jessica Savitch won recognition for multi-part feature stories on unusual topics.
21.
For example, Philadelphia KYW news director Jim Topping, inspired by his and his wife's experience attending Lamaze classes, assigned Jessica Savitch to cover a five-part series on natural childbirth.
22.
An audio line failed, delaying the debate and leaving three KYW reporters, including Jessica Savitch, to fill the 27 minutes of air time before the audio could be restored.
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Jessica Savitch could think fast and ask the right questions, and she had the ability so many lack, to actually listen to the answer.
24.
Jessica Savitch joined NBC News in 1977 as a weekend anchor for NBC Nightly News.
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Jessica Savitch was the network's second woman to anchor a weekend national newscast; Catherine Mackin had previously anchored NBC's Sunday evening newscast beginning in December 1976, before she left for ABC News the following year.
26.
Jessica Savitch later became the first woman to anchor the weeknight edition of NBC Nightly News, periodically substituting for the regular anchors John Chancellor and David Brinkley.
27.
Jessica Savitch was assigned to anchor short NBC News updates that ran approximately one minute and aired between regular prime time programs each evening, drawing a high number of viewers.
28.
Jessica Savitch began to fill more roles in NBC's news programming, serving as a regular panel member on Meet The Press, contributing to the news magazine programs Prime Time Saturday and Prime Time Sunday, and contributing commentary to the NBC Radio Network.
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Jessica Savitch substituted as anchor on the Today and Tomorrow shows.
30.
Jessica Savitch was offered the anchor position for an early-morning news program Early Today but turned it down.
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Jessica Savitch's success influenced numerous aspiring female newscasters to model themselves after her look and delivery.
32.
Jessica Savitch constantly worked on improving her news reading delivery, using a voice coach and other techniques.
33.
In January 1983, in addition to her work for NBC, Jessica Savitch began hosting a new public affairs documentary program on Public Broadcasting Service, Frontline.
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Jessica Savitch continued as host until her death later that year, at which time Judy Woodruff took over as host.
35.
Jessica Savitch began feeling anxious about her job and showed signs of emotional instability.
36.
On October 3,1983, during an NBC News Digest segment, Jessica Savitch was slurring her speech, deviating from her script and ad-libbing her report.
37.
Jessica Savitch performed a later segment without any issues that same evening.
38.
Korn reportedly divorced Jessica Savitch after learning that she had a significant drug problem.
39.
Jessica Savitch, who was in New York at the time, found his body when she returned; she returned to her work at NBC three weeks later.
40.
Biographers have asserted that Jessica Savitch was bisexual and had romantic relationships with women as well as men.
41.
On October 23,1983, Jessica Savitch had dinner with Martin Fischbein, vice president of the New York Post, at the Chez Odette restaurant in New Hope, Pennsylvania.
42.
Jessica Savitch drove out of the wrong exit from the restaurant and up the towpath of the old Pennsylvania Canal's Delaware Division on the Pennsylvania side of the Delaware River.
43.
Jessica Savitch gave the main address at Ithaca College's 1979 commencement, at which she was awarded an honorary doctorate of humane letters.
44.
Lifetime aired a documentary entitled Intimate Portrait: Jessica Savitch that was based on the perspectives of Savitch biographer Alanna Nash.