Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, February 26, 1995 TAG: 9502240033
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: CODY LOWE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she took a double major in political science to back up her degree in journalism. Something "to fall back on," she says, if a career in front of the camera someday comes to an end.
Necessary - recently hired to move into the co-anchor chair vacated by Kalley King - is thoughtful and open about the mix of personality and journalist peculiar to television news anchor positions.
She knows looks and personality are factors in attracting and keeping viewers, but, "I'd much rather people listen to what I'm saying rather than paying attention to what I'm wearing."
At her numerous personal appearances, she is sometimes distressed that the questions tend toward "'Where do you get your clothes?' not, 'How do you feel about covering the General Assembly?'"
"It's a cold, hard fact. You have to be attractive, well-groomed." Her own looks, she says with professional detachment, "are a plus for me. I'm not striking, not the beauty queen type, but more like the girl-next-door. Someone you'd invite home for dinner. People make comparisons to the Katie Couric look - friendly, not threatening."
The camera's emphasis on looks traditionally has meant that women in television news tend to be most marketable during their 30s and off camera by their 40s. Necessary says that was one motivation for her political science major, to help her be ready for a behind-the-camera job producing news about politics and government later in her career.
She likes it in front of the camera, though, and the recent acceptance of older women in those roles at the network level gives her "hope that that's a trend - that television news is letting women age gracefully" on the air.
"I'd like to stay in front of the camera."
Though being in an anchor position is exactly where she wants to be, Necessary says she doesn't want to lose the involvement that comes from being a reporter, either, and her boss at Channel 10 - Bill Foy - has assured her she'll get a chance to do regular reporting.
"She's a great anchor, but she's also a very strong reporter," Foy said. "We intend to get her out into the country, on the street."
Though she's been at the station less than a month, she's already writing some of the newscast and working to get acquainted with the region, its politics and people.
Necessary already knows the state politics, something she covered while working for the past five years at WCYB, the NBC affiliate in Bristol, Va.-Tenn. In fact, she and John Carlin - now her co-anchor at Channel 10 - worked side-by-side once before, albeit for different stations, covering the inauguration of Gov. George Allen.
"We really didn't know who the other was," she says, "but we stood all day side-by-side. He was friendly and I enjoyed talking to him."
Now she gets to do that every day. "John and I got along instantly."
Foy said Necessary "has fit in very nicely" with all the staff, earning their professional respect and making "a lot of friends. ... We like to think she's off to a good start and will be around for many years."
In Bristol, Necessary had been working as an anchor in the noon and 5:30 p.m. newscasts. Moving to Roanoke meant not only a bigger market, but adding the responsibility and prestige of the "main newscasts" at 6 and 11 p.m.
"I love doing a co-anchored show," she said. "You're able to show your personality a little more," something she believes helps attract viewers.
But it's still the journalism that will keep an audience, she says.
At 28, she already can claim a dozen years experience as a journalist. She started writing stories for the semiweekly Journal-Patriot newspaper in her home town of Wilkesboro, N.C., at age 16. It was great part-time experience, she said, that she continued until she was 20.
By the time she got to journalism school, she already "knew the basics," and her experience meant she didn't have to take some entry-level classes. Eventually, though, she was lured away from print journalism by the excitement of broadcast news.
The Bristol job was her first straight out of the university, beginning in the 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. shift, helping prepare the early morning newscast. She moved into producer and reporter jobs, and worked the last two and a half years as the solo noon anchor and the 5:30 p.m. co-anchor.
She's concerned, she says, about the influence of "tabloid TV" - programs like "A Current Affair" and "Hard Copy" - on traditional newsgathering. But she expects the impact of that "yellow journalism" to wane.
Working hard, hustling, breaking stories, demonstrating integrity - the basics - are what she and the rest of the Channel 10 staff are dedicated to, she says.
"There is a new sense of commitment here. A new spirit under new management."
Necessary made the move to Roanoke just about the time the station was being sold as part of the national sale of the former Roy Park Broadcasting enterprises. She knew that was a risky time to be changing jobs, but after talking to employees here and at the Park station in Bristol, Necessary said she was convinced it was going to work out fine.
She hasn't been disappointed. The staff has been friendly and accepting, she says, as have viewers, many of whom have called up to check on family connections.
The challenges of the new job have been satisfying, too, Necessary said, even the toughest one of working in a market where the competing station has consistently been number one in the ratings for decades. Necessary predicts confidently that will change one day.
In the meantime, she says she intends to work as hard as she can and settle down for a while, even though her boyfriend, also "in the business," works in South Carolina.
"I love it here. I love coming in to work each day."
"We're really proud of our product. We think we have something for everybody. I think if people watch us, they will like what they see."
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