What Really Happened to Jessica Savitch? I worked with her as a young NBC producer. She was a one-of-a-kind anchorwoman.
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television journalist who was the weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News and daily newsreader for NBC News during the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Jessica Savitch, a graduate of Ithaca College with a degree in Television-Radio, broke through many of the barriers that women in broadcasting faced at that time, eventually becoming the Saturday anchor for NBC Nightly News and their Washington -based reporter in 1977.
A native of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, Jessica Savitch began her broadcasting career at age 14, working on a radio rock show for teenagers. While earning her degree in the television-radio department at Ithaca College, she was an announcer for the College’s television station, WICB, and worked in radio at Rochester’s WBBF. After graduating in 1968, she joined WCBS radio in New York City. She moved to television at KHOU in Houston and in 1972 became the news anchor at KYW-TV in Philadelphia.
After joining NBC in 1977, she additionally hosted the PBS documentary series Frontline. Her work was widely respected and won many honors, including an Emmy.
Throughout her career, Savitch remained closely involved with her alma mater, returning to Ithaca periodically to teach a minicourse on television news. She gave the main address at the College’s 1979 commencement, at which she was awarded an honorary doctor of humane letters degree. In 1980 she was elected to the Ithaca College Board of Trustees.
In the 40 years since her death, the pioneering newscaster has become an Icarus-like parable, a woman who was punished for her outsized ambition. She was one of the most powerful names in the news until one disastrous broadcast tarnished her golden image. In an exclusive report, those closest to her speak out about what everyone got wrong about her life.
