What's New with the American Morning Co-Anchors?

In today's post:

• John Roberts, Master of Ceremonies
• Q&A: Kiran Chetry: On Career Transition, Nepal and Journalism
• A Ray of Light in Morning News

John Roberts, Master of Ceremonies

American Morning co-anchor, John Roberts, will be the Master of Ceremonies of the 9th Annual Drug Free Kids Campaign Awards Dinner on September 25, 2007. The Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America's (CADCA) mission is to strengthen the capacity of community coalitions to create and maintain safe, healthy and drug-free communities.

The awards dinner will honor the recipients of the Humanitarian of the Year Award and CADCA's Champion for Drug Free Kids Award.

From CADCA's website:

The Humanitarian Award is CADCA's Drug-Free Kids Campaign's highest honor. The Award recognizes individuals or companies that utilize their resources and leadership to help CADCA build safe, healthy, drug-free communities. DIRECTV’s programs to improve the health and safety of America’s youth continue to help our young people stay away from substance abuse. These efforts and DIRECTV’s support of the 2007 Drug Free Kids Campaign serve as a shining example of good corporate citizenship. CADCA is proud to honor DIRECTV as its 2007 Humanitarian of the Year.

CADCA’s Champions for Drug-Free Kids are nationally-recognized leaders who have distinguished themselves as ardent defenders or supporters of drug-free kids. The Champion has a role as a key influence on youth from the area of sport, media, or entertainment. In their professional and personal life, our Champion embodies a healthy lifestyle. The Drug-Free Kids Champion Award recognizes a public figure who dedicates time, energy and resources to help kids stay drug-free.

This year's CADCA's Champion for Drug Free Kids Award will be presented to Dr. Tuan Pham, Ph.D., President and CEO, Phamatech.

The ceremony will be held at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Washington, D.C.

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Q&A: Kiran Chetry: On Career Transition, Nepal and Journalism

Staying with the American Morning theme today, two interviews with Kiran Chetry were recently published. This first article excerpt is from the Nepal Monitor.

What are some of the key characteristics of a good broadcast journalist?

First of all, you have to have curiosity about the world around you. You have to have the ability to communicate, of course, just like you would if you are a print journalist - it is just slightly different. You have to be able to be not only curious but willing to spend a lot of time trying to put what you are saying into context, because reporting a story is reading what is going on and helping the audience, the viewer, the reader, understand it and put it into perspective in the world around them. How it relates to them is also something that is important.

It is also important, I believe, to be a good listener so that you can hear what people are telling you, and you can learn from the world around you. Every time we interview someone, it is an opportunity to learn something new and to hear a different perspective.

The best thing about the job, I believe, is that you are able to bring so much information to people. They call it the newsgathering process and that is true, because we are everywhere. As members of the media, we inform our fellow citizens, whether world-wide citizens or in the US and we can’t take that lightly. We are informing those around us so that they can make decisions when it comes to their lives, when it comes to their views. And I find that endlessly fascinating. Everyday, there is something new.

Who is your role model in television?

There are many people. Just to name a few, I would definitely say Peter Jennings. He is somebody I grew up watching, and I really admire his style of delivering the news. You felt like he was having a conversation with you, never talking down to you. And I think it is important that you give the audience credit for being intelligent and informed. And when you are delivering the news of the day it is important to make sure that you keep that in mind - that you don’t necessarily know more than everybody else. I also like Peter Jennings a lot because I met him in person when I was very young and was trying to get into the television business and he was somebody who was very kind. I was an intern at that time in a little cable station. I also really admire people like Diane Sawyer. She has been in the business for so long in so many different ways and she still brings a lot of energy. I really find that admirable.

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A Ray of Light in Morning News

The second interview comes from East West Magazine. The article, written by Kirthana Ramisetti, highlights both her professional accomplishments as well as her family.

As she settles into her new position, which includes rising daily at 3 a.m. and anchoring a three-hour newscast live each day, she clearly thrives on the rhythm of the show, which she describes as “time on fast-forward.” The whirlwind of reporting, guest interviews and breaking news stories that occur during each broadcast never fails to energize Chetry, a self-proclaimed “news junkie.”

Photo by Kah Leong Poon

She finds life with husband Chris Knowles, a former Fox News weather forecaster, and 15-month old daughter, Maya Rose, equally invigorating. She lights up when chatting about her daughter, especially when recalling an observation made by her mother. “My mother claims that [Maya Rose] is exactly as I was when I was little, and she says that now you know why I only had one!”

Chetry works hard at creating a balance between motherhood and her high-profile career. “When you’re a working mom you want to do the best at your job, you want to do the best by your child, and everyone has their own way of trying to get that balance.” She is appreciative that her schedule allows her to spend more time with her child than most parents, due to her early morning hours. But there is a sacrifice. “You just skimp on sleep. It comes to the point that I rarely nap now, so the second I put my head on the pillow, I am out.”

When not at work, Chetry relaxes with her family, usually with jaunts to Central Park and visits to out-of-state relatives. Chetry and Knowles also enjoying cooking at home, especially South Asian food. “My husband, who had never eaten Indian food before he met me, that’s his favorite food now. And so he encourages me a lot to cook Nepalese/Indian food.” They also enjoy dining out, including one particular Indian restaurant in her neighborhood. “Don’t even laugh because it’s such a coincidence, but there’s one restaurant near my house called Kiran,” she says, laughing herself. “It’s a very popular name.”

The name, which means “ray of light” in Sanskrit, seems to suit Chetry perfectly; a woman who remembers her roots and says her parents are her role models.