Eye on the Anchors

We wake up with them, have dinner with them, go to bed with them and turn to them in times of crisis. Sound like family? For many people, they almost are.

Every day, several times a day, Southwest Florida's television news anchors are as close as the click of a remote. WINK, WBBH and WZVN, Big Three affiliates of CBS, NBC and ABC, respectively, have periodic newscasts throughout the day, from pre-dawn until they sign off at 11:30 p.m. WFTX, the FOX affiliate, has an hour-long newscast at 10 p.m., repeated the following morning. (Live morning newscasts will begin this summer.) In between, the anchors smile down from billboards, punctuate radio broadcasts, appear at social clubs and fund-raising events, and pop on between Oprah, CSI and Lost to offer a taste of what's coming on the nightly news.

Nothing represents a local station like its news anchor team, and the impression the team leaves with viewers has a tremendous impact on the station as a whole-and its financial well-being.

"A station's success depends on a variety of factors, but the single most important is how the anchor is perceived by the audience. People tend to identify with someone they see night after night or morning after morning," says Barbara Cochran, president of the Radio-Television News Directors Association, which is based in Washington, D.C.

Most local stations feature anchor teams-typically a man and woman, because of a desire to engage all viewers, according to Cochran. "Half-hour shows tended to have single anchors, and as the length of time on the air and time of day changed, there needed to be more than one anchor just to be able to apportion the workload," Cochran explains.

What makes a good anchor?

Appearance is important, but not necessarily beauty.

"When you're on TV, the most important thing is that appearance not be a distraction from the information that's being communicated. There are lots of people who have had success who are not necessarily glamour pusses," says Cochran. Far more important is the credibility an anchor brings to the newscast, she adds. "They have to be seen to be giving reliable information and know what they're talking about, [providing] a sense of context and history."

Those are the qualities WINK-TV news director John Emmert looks for. "They have to think on their feet, they have to be very bright," he says. "They're the face of our broadcast. If something goes wrong [while they're on the air], they're the ones responsible for handling that."

"There is sometimes a tendency to think this is an easy and glamorous job, and the fact is anchors have to be able to communicate and do it through a television camera and have a lot of knowledge at their fingertips and be able to state it clearly," says Cochran. "[News anchors] often have to ad lib, and cover a breaking news event and do it live, as well as to read beautifully from a teleprompter."

We met with the main anchor teams who appear on evening newscasts Monday through Friday on WINK, WFTX, WZVN and WBBH to learn a little more about them and their work.

WINK (CBS)

Lois Thome and Chris Cifatte

Chris Cifatte had a tough act to follow when he joined Lois Thome at the WINK-TV anchor desk in 2005. Predecessor Jim McLaughlin had held the reins at WINK for 28 years, serving not only as news anchor but also as managing editor. When he retired, says Thome, "We needed someone who had a strong journalism background, was serious about news reporting and able to work with young reporters and help them grow as journalists-as well as being good on air, of course; that's the primary thing." Cifatte, who joined the station in 2002, "quickly rose to the top," she says.

Sitting in a small room tucked in a corner of the busy, nondescript newsroom at WINK's headquarters on Palm Beach Boulevard, Thome, 41, and Cifatte, 39, listen to questions and answer them with polish that comes from years of interview experience. Friendly, open, confident and unfailingly professional, they seem very much the same as on air-and that's how it should be, says Emmert. "We wouldn't want anchors to be different in person than what you see on the air," he says.

Here is what Thome and Cifatte had to say.

On public appearances:

Community involvement comes with the job. Anchors speak to social, civic and professional organizations, they host fund raisers and participate in charitable organizations. Many are attached to particular causes or organizations. Cifatte is involved with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Florida. Education is Thome's bailiwick, from the Lee County Reading Festival to mentoring.

They say they do appearances because the causes are worthwhile, it's fulfilling and they enjoy it. It's also inevitable; since anchors are so visible, people seek them out to host events, act as spokespeople or advocate for their causes. Besides, community involvement is critical to heightening visibility and good relations.

"Lois does a lot more personal ap­pear­ances than any other anchor I've worked with," says Cifatte.

"That's sort of my niche," says Thome. "Years ago, it was decided it was very valuable to the station, and somebody needed to be doing these things. If you really want to have longevity in this market, you need to be willing to go out and get to know [people]. There are no egos allowed. I don't know anyone in this market with a huge ego that's lasted very long."

But there's a line between a newsperson's responsibility for covering news and his or her advocacy. "Education is something I'm passionate about, but you'll never hear my position on any education issue," says Thome.

Even more so than in other markets, people in Southwest Florida have a desire for personal contact with anchors, Thome and Cifatte agree. "Everybody is from somewhere else, so that's how we make a community," Cifatte theorizes. "Here, neighbors are not necessarily the people who live next to you."

On competition:

"We have a healthy respect for our competition," says Thome. "We're all trying to put on the best news we can each day. Having said that, if you don't have the fire in your belly to be No. 1, you will not succeed in this business. But that's not what drives what we do every day; we try to be the best and put on the best stories that are most relevant to people."

Competition also comes from "everything else going on [with viewers]," says Cifatte, "making dinner, talking to your spouse, just getting home, [being] with the kids." And at 11 p.m., competition is with bedtime.

"If you don't measure up, or if they have to flip the channel to find what they're looking for, viewers notice that," he says.

On factors that affect ratings:

"No one person makes the ratings, and no one person makes them drop," says Thome. The national affiliate, however, plays a big role in local ratings. The lead-in show preceding the newscast often determines whether viewers will stay tuned to that station's newscast. When ER was an NBC blockbuster, Thome says, "we really struggled with 11 o'clock."

On being anchors:

Although newsrooms tend to breed competition among reporters and photographers, says Thome, "on the anchor desk, you have to be a team; you're driving the ship."

When there's tension, viewers know it. Successful anchors form a close relationship and can anticipate each other's words and actions. "She's always got my back," says Cifatte.

Anchors "have so much of the weight of creating the image for this business," he adds. "Whatever [viewers] think about the two main anchors personality-wise is what they think of the station, whether they're watching the news or Oprah."

WFTX (FOX4)

Krista Fogelsong and Patrick Nolan

Started in 1993, WFTX's news station is the newest kid in town, and its anchors seem to impart youthful energy. They are quick to joke and laugh, and come across as no-holds-barred, friendly and maybe a little less polished than their more formal counterparts. They bring to the newscast a casual, upbeat attitude and what some see as titillating news coverage, sometimes verging on sensational. FOX4 has competed successfully by airing a one-hour newscast at 10 p.m., while the others' half-hour newscasts air at 11 p.m.

Journal Broadcast Group bought WFTX last year from Emmis Communications Corp. and has ushered in a new general manager, news director and other executives. "From a content standpoint, some news coverage choices have changed since we have taken over," says Journal spokesman Jim Thomas. "There was not a news director prior."

Journal is still in the process of evaluating the station and market. "There's nothing that we're prepared to announce as far as additional newscasts," he says. "Many of the stations in our group have successful news stations in them-most have considerable news commitment," but the company will take its cue from local viewers.

Fogelsong, 34, arrived in 2002 from South Dakota, where she was anchor and reporter. Nolan, 37, joined her the following year, returning to Florida from an ABC affiliate in Houston, where he was a reporter and weekend anchor. (The Florida native attended the University of Florida and did a stint with a West Palm Beach station several years ago.) The two have developed high profiles in Southwest Florida through station advertising and numerous public appearances. (Anchors at the other stations point out that Folgelsong and Nolan's schedule allows more public appearances.)