ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996 TAG: 9606280019
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED BARK KNIGHT-RIDDER/TRIBUNE
All BETs are off for Ed Gordon, who is joining NBC News after eight years of relative obscurity with Black Entertainment Television.
Relative obscurity with one asterisk. Gordon's hard-punching January interview with O.J. Simpson shifted his career from park into overdrive. It suddenly was time to sit back and sift through a wealth of new job opportunities.
``To be fair, I had had conversations with all three networks prior to the O.J. Simpson interview,'' Gordon says by phone. ``But without question, that turned the heat up. It certainly brought more eyeballs to the network and attention to me personally.''
Simpson agreed to the BET interview after the network consented to air commercials for his $29.95 video, ``O.J. Tells.'' The trade-off led to an electrically charged exchange in which Gordon pressed Simpson on his whereabouts at the time Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman were murdered.
``Were you chipping golf balls? Were you asleep?'' Gordon asked.
``I don't want to talk about that,'' Simpson non-answered. ``It's on the video. Exactly what I was doing is on the video.''
``Well,'' Gordon retorted, ``Give America something for free, Mr. Simpson.''
He wouldn't, of course, but Gordon made one more run.
``So I can't at least find out where you were at that time? Chipping golf balls, asleep, shower?''
``You can find out for ...,'' Simpson began.
``For $29.95,'' said Gordon.
``For $29.95,'' Simpson repeated, laughing.
It turned out to be the price of fame for Gordon as well. He hasn't talked to Simpson since; nor has he second-guessed himself.
``I promised myself before the interview that I would not wake up the next morning and say, `would've, could've, should've,''' Gordon says.
At NBC, he'll be a correspondent for ``Dateline,'' contribute to ``Today'' and host the Saturday night edition of ``Internight'' when the network's 24-hour MSNBC cable news channel debuts July 15. Touted as one of television's ``brightest rising stars'' by NBC News president Andy Lack, Gordon will be among a select few African-American journalists being showcased at the network level.
``When you're just mentioning their job, I don't think it's important to put an African-American tag on someone, because you wouldn't say `Caucasian anchor,''' Gordon says. ``But when you peek into the corridors of corporate America in this country, clearly African-American men and women have not been represented in ways they should be. I walk in with no blinders. I realize I'm an African American in a place where few have been. I'm looking forward to being there, and hopefully showing that we can thrive in these positions.''
While at BET, Gordon interviewed a who's who of news makers, including President Clinton, George Bush, Nelson Mandela, Janet Reno, Colin Powell and Arthur Ashe. All in all, though, Barbara Walters got more attention for sneezing.
``You always hope you're doing things that people would pay attention to,'' Gordon says. ``I'd be lying if I said I hadn't hoped people would notice. Occasionally there was frustration when we knew we had something before the networks did. But I didn't lose any sleep over it. I just continued to do the best I could. It sounds corny, but if you satisfy yourself, you really have done your job.''
Gordon, a native of Detroit and a graduate of Western Michigan University, credits BET with ``affording me opportunities I would not have received anywhere else. Part of the reason I'm moving now is simply that I've been there for quite some time. There comes a point in your career when you want to go. I've been offered other things in the past, but never where I felt I had a chance to really sink my teeth into something.''
There are skin-deep rewards as well. Posing chin in hand in a pin-striped suit, Gordon is one of People magazine's ``50 most beautiful people in the world.'' The magazine is impressed with his hazel eyes and ``Clark Gable mustache.'' And Gordon is quoted as saying, ``I'm happy with the package God gave me.''
But, hey, he's married and has a 3-year-old daughter. So look, but don't touch.
``I think news has changed in the last few years,'' Gordon says. ``Tom Brokaw does David Letterman's show, and you see Dan Rather on with Letterman or Jay Leno. There's that fun side of news. Whereas in the days of Walter Cronkite or Ed Murrow, I don't think that would have been done. In the long run, people enjoy seeing their news anchors and reporters as people, if you will. While the People magazine thing certainly was flattering, I looked at it as a fun item. ... At first I thought it was a practical joke.''
Gordon officially joins NBC on July 8.
LENGTH: Medium: 88 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: Ed Gordonby CNB