After hearing Fox News anchor Jenna Lee speak to grades 7-12, students on The Hewitt Times, Hawks TV, and in Broadcast Journalism headed to the library for a closer discussion.
Here’s what you missed: a captivating Q&A session to help us get to know the surprisingly authentic Jenna Lee even better.
Q: What makes a story interesting?
A: What makes a story really unique and different is the people in it, whoever they are, from a big name to a small-town grocery store owner. They can make your story fascinating. Sometimes it’s less about the actual story and more about the people behind it, to add to the connection with your audience.
Q: With print publications, it’s much easier to really feature something, by giving it larger font, for example. But on air, is it just a longer time allocation? Do bigger, featured stories affect who covers what, and what kind of media you use?
A: In television, sometimes really big stories are decided based upon the path of resources. For example, we recently wanted to do a story about a researcher in London who thinks he found a way to look at the brain and tell if someone’s a criminal. It’s a really cool story, right!? But we don’t have any videos or much other evidence, or anything, really, to show with it, and right now that has stopped this story from becoming news. Live news is always really fluid, so it’s definitely case by case.
Q: How different or difficult is it specifically being a woman in broadcast journalism? Is it more competitive?
A: In television news, there’s not really a huge difference between a man and a woman, because if the show needs a woman, then a woman’s going to get hired. If they want a woman who doesn’t look like me, they’re not going to hire me, and what you have to learn is that it’s nothing personal. But in many cases, gender does play a role. As a woman, I do face a few boundaries and restrictions. I’m really fascinated with the Middle East, but right now it’d be really hard for me to go. It’s just a situation that’s more dangerous for women. On the other hand, sometimes being a woman is really helpful! There are questions I can ask on the air in a conversational way, especially with some high-profile people, as a woman, with kind of a different approach. And people will respond differently to you. If someone’s more comfortable with you because you’re a woman, and you can use that, that does go back to gender, and that’s okay. But some other women really play up their sexuality and femininity to attract attention, which I see as cheap and a whole different issue.
Q: How do you distinguish yourself from other female news anchors?
A: I don’t really know if I’m all the way there yet, but I love international news. I was able to have the opportunity to go to Israel two weeks ago because my husband was working on national security there… but Fox wouldn’t let me go. So, I flew myself there and sat in on his meetings, because I knew that extra knowledge would help me. I just try to latch onto things that I’m interested in, and hopefully it’ll work for me! It also has to do with the way that you look: I don’t dye my hair or have other procedures done for a reason. I just think it heightens someone’s authenticity in a way.
Q: Do you think you have to constantly change for someone else, like your network, as opposed to for yourself?
A: Changing for yourself should be an ongoing process, and I’ve learned you can’t just go with everything your producers tell you to do. You have to build your confidence to make your own decisions, which I’ve done about wearing sleeveless dresses, for example. I don’t want to wear sleeveless dresses on the air, and so I don’t! It took a while for me to say that, but ultimately it’s for myself.
Q: What made you decide to try out journalism on TV rather than writing for a newspaper?
A: I was looking for the best of both worlds, and you really have to know yourself to choose. And I knew that there were some things that I was just good at that I could play around with being on TV. It’s kind of magical when you see something genuine on television, when you create different connections, and that’s something I love. Also, when you’re on television, you really have the power to own your own story.
Q: Do you have any general advice to give?
A: Advice I would give to students today is really to not worry about being different. When I was younger, I studied a lot and didn’t go out that often, and I would always wonder why I was different — if something was wrong with me. Just be you and try to relax! Your education is something no one can take away from you.
Take a look at the video below for a Hawks TV interview with Jenna Lee, conducted by Hewitt sophomores Emi Santandreu ’15 and Taylor Scanlan ’15.