'This has turned out to be such a great opportunity. [Working at CBS 2 Chicago] I didn't realize how much change could be positive. You always prepare yourself for the possibility that you might want to do something else. So I can never say that I thought it was over for me. I'm always prepared to do something else, so that doesn't bother me. Sure, I would have preferred for it to happen in a different way, but it didn't. And so I'm here and we can try anything ... there's no pressure in trying to move forward. There's a lot of pressure in trying to stay above water. And I'm not a treader. If I'm going to swim I'm going to go somewhere.
'I'm a competitor. And the fact of the matter is, I learned a long time ago that the way you keep yourself in the match is if somebody scores on you, you tell them, 'Good shot, good job!' And then you wipe it out of your mind so you go forward. You don't take your next swing based on what just happened to you. There's more pressure on them to win the next point then for me to come from behind. That's a mindset that also works in TV news.' — Diann Burns on her separation from ABC 7 Chicago and her new position as co-anchor of the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news broadcasts at CBS 2 Chicago.
____
It has been a little over three years since I last had the opportunity to interview one of the city's most prominent and popular local network news anchors, Diann Burns, currently co-anchor of the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news broadcasts on WBBM-TV, Channel Two.
The events leading up to Burns' move to Channel Two last October were not without controversy and unrelenting public scrutiny as Burns suddenly found herself taken off the air at Channel 7 WLS-TV (where she had spent 18 years) in January, 2003, when she failed to renew her contract, which was due to expire last summer. ABC management removed her from her top-rated slot alongside Ron Magers os ABC 7 News at 10.
Admittedly shocked but resolute, Burns soon landed on her feet and to the delight of her many fans and admirers the intrepid journalist moved to CBS 2 Chicago last fall. Diann now co-anchors alongside the popular former Good Morning America star, Antonio Mora.
Having signed a multi-million dollar contract negotiated by her husband/manager Marc Watts and CBS President Joe Ahern, Burns has netted herself a deal that allegedly makes her the highest paid local news anchor in the country. But at what cost professionally and personally?
DG: A lot has happened in the last year, in particular, and I'm interested in talking about the changes you've been through emotionally and professionally since moving from Channel 7 to Channel 2 ...
DB: It's kind of a blur ...
DG: But before we get to anything else can you give me the 411 on this 'I'm a Two Watcher' (I sing the jingle, Diann laughs) business?
DB: Where it came from?
DG: Yeah.
DB: That is strictly Joe Ahern's baby, and you should ask him about it. He kind-of came up with this concept and he's the kind of person who'll just be walking down the street and suddenly say, 'You know what, I just came up with this idea!' I can't remember where we were, but he said, 'We need a catchy tune ... I know ... I'm a Two Watcher ... ' (Diann sings, I'm laughing) I was like ... oh. Because it's from that song, 'I'm a girl watcher.' And I was like, oh, that's so ...
DG: Corny?
DB: (Laughter) And everybody kept saying, 'No, Joe, no ... ' And Joe says, 'We're gonna do it!' And he's so headstrong. Sure enough, the next day everybody was talking about it ... on the street, people (were) coming up and saying, 'Love the jingle! We're a Two Watcher!' I then said, 'OK, Joe, you're right.' (Laughter) I mean, I get e-mails here at the station from people saying, 'Can I be in the 'Two-Watcher' segment? I go to the supermarket ... I'd like to be in it!'
DG: Diann, when you separated from Channel 7, did any of your long-standing colleagues there publicly or privately rally around you?
DB: I would say, and I still talk to them today, it's not like I don't have friends there. The day I went back to get my stuff ... it had to be close to midnight ... when I went in the building was dark and when I got to my office there was a crowd outside. And they all helped me pack my office up and get (my belongings) to my car. And it really just meant so much to me, that they were still there. It was after hours, and they heard that I was coming. And it was great. You know it was one of those things where ... there were a lot of people that I never did see that day to say goodbye and I didn't know I was leaving. So for them to stay just really touched me. And what I wound up doing ... you remember my office ... there was a lot of furniture and stuff there and I just didn't want that to be my memory. So what I wound up doing was giving different things of mine to people who were there that night. So when I look across their offices, part of me will always be there. Oh, I love my friends there! I talk to them all the time, and I miss seeing them every day. I had been there for so long, it was just a part of me. People said, 'aren't you going to look back at your office?' And I said, 'My life and my heart's not in that office anymore, it was empty.' My life and my heart continued in my friends there. So I didn't go home and wail. I didn't cry that night when I was there. It was wonderful (at ABC 7) and I had some great times.
DG: DI watched the Chicago Tonight broadcast with Bob Sirott when a statement you had prepared for the viewers was read on the air ...
DB: Oh, by Linda? (MacClennan)
DG: It was being read on WTTW's Chicago Tonight show because you were never given an opportunity to say goodbye on the air by the Channel 7 brass prior to being removed as on-air talent. What were you feeling inside as Linda MacClennan read that statement on your behalf?
DB: I guess it felt like there was no closure. And I'm a professional person. You know I can't think of anything bad I would have had to say. I had some wonderful years there. And I never ever had a thought in my mind about 'What would I say if I said goodbye?' Because I never thought I would say goodbye. And so, I don't know ... I guess if anything made me sad that was it. I didn't feel sad about the other stuff because I suppose that happens in business. I didn't let myself go there ... for a reason. I feel like I have a lot to offer: this business, this city. And so it was not like I was never going to get a chance to continue. So why think of myself as a victim? I'm not a victim. I don't think of myself that way and I never have. I move forward and I learn from what happened.
DG: Were you disappointed in the way things were handled by Channel 7 regarding your removal from the station, Diann?
DB: Umm. I was shocked at the way it was handled.
DG: There are those who said at the time of your separation from ABC that you were, in essence, fired from Channel 7 back in January 2003. Do you feel you were fired from ABC 7, Diann?
DB: I don't know. Let go, fired, asked not to come back in (Diann smiles and chuckles), what's the difference? I didn't work there anymore overnight. No matter how you draw it up on the paper ... didn't renew her contract, I don't know. Sure. And you know what, I don't have any problem with that anymore.
DG: What's been the biggest challenge for you since you've come to Channel Two?
DB: I did love when there was some movement in the numbers. Just watching the energy go up 15 notches around here. And people asked me when I came here if I was really sad and if it hurt my feelings ... the things that were said about me. I was surprised at some of the places that it came from. And how that played out. In my mind, even if people are watching to find out if they hated me, they would still watch. And in the end I think that they would see through (all the hype), and then the people here could get a chance to showcase what they've always been doing. You know people here do good work. So that didn't bother me. I don't think I went home and said, 'this is really going to be hard.' It's not about me. And that was the funniest part about the negative stuff. It's never been about me. Things are already happening here and they already were. This is a situation where it's the right people at the right time.
DG: Everything else aside, how important is it, in your mind, to become Number One in the ratings? To lift The Channel Two News at 10 to that position in the ratings?
DB: You know, on one level, that's not really what we do this for. That's really not what it's about. OK, if you're going to go there ... in an honest but playful sort of way, I hope they don't abolish the ratings system until Two is Number One. (Diann is laughing) And it's not even beating one station; it's beating everyone. We're competitors. We want to be the best on every level there is to be the best. We want to be Number One. We want it all. That's what all of us here have in common. We want all of the marbles on our side of the table, and that's just how it is.
DG: How about you, are you the best?
DB: Am I the best?
DG: Yes, are you the best?
DB: At what I do?
DG: Right. You lead me into the question.
DB: I think that we are the best at what we do. I said before, it's not about me. I have confidence, don't get me wrong! (laughing) I am totally confident. I work hard. I want to do great work. And I want people to turn to us (Channel Two) when they want full-scale, comprehensive, dig your heels in, cure everybody, when it comes to getting it first. Mostly, I would like us be first and definitely accurate and just fair. I want us to be out there, heads above the rest.
DG: In this election year there are many issues out there that are really hot. One of the key issues is that of civil unions vs. gay marriage for gays and lesbians. How do you weigh in on that topic?
DB: You know it took me six months when I was at my former position to talk them (ABC 7 Management) into letting me do a story about same-sex marriages. And they were cringing. They didn't think people were ready to watch it. But it's a reality. Look at the (gay and lesbian) people flooding to San Francisco to get married. It's an issue that is not going to go away until it's dealt with. How do I weigh in? I weigh in by being able to go into people's homes and prompt and listen ... and put them on the air in a way that doesn't focus on their sexuality but focuses on people as people who want to raise a family, who want to share their love, and have people who don't understand it and don't support it be able to get a look inside so they can evaluate it. Whether or not it affects their lives, whether or not they should be passing judgment; I can't tell them how to react one way or the other. I don't believe you can make a judgment or you can decide for someone else unless you get inside, and that's what it's all about. If two people want to be together, if they want to raise children ... we owe it to them, and I mean people as a society, to talk about it. To put it out there so people can be exposed to what goes on in their (gay and lesbian couples') lives. My position as a journalist is to make sure people are informed enough (about the issues of civil unions and gay marriage) that they realize that this is what's happening in the world, and (that they) base their opinion on fact and not on stereotype.
DG: Your relationship with your co-anchor, Antonio Mora, seems to be really great. I know you knew him before you came here to Channel 2, didn't you?
DB: (Diann nods) Right. And I knew him through mutual friends before he ever came to Chicago. I never really thought that I'd ever wind up working with him. Because when he came to Chicago I said, ' I wish he'd come to Channel 7, he'd be great!' He's got a great personality, he's a fun guy, he's smart and he cracks me up. He's really experimenting, putting himself out there ... he's very, I would say, analytical about how certain things he might say or do would be taken. It's really fun to watch him put himself out there. (Diann is laughing) He'll kick me under the desk and say, 'Oh my God, my career is ending ... why did I say that?' I love working with him, I think he's great. I think he's a nice guy, he's a family man, he's interesting, he's lived all over the world, and he really takes this (business) seriously. He cares about people and he has great story ideas. It's fabulous to have somebody who's easy, easy to get along with and who is on the same page I'm on. Yeah. It's great.
DG: Considering the events of the past year, Diann, is there anything that you would have done differently?
DB: The funny thing is, the day after my separation from Channel 7, I didn't make any further plans on purpose. I did anything I wanted to do. So is there anything I would have done differently ... (Diann laughs) ... I don't think there's anything I didn't do!!! The answer is no, absolutely not!
DG: Is there one outstanding lesson you've learned from the sum total of your experiences this past year?
DB: The only thing I learned from my experience with Channel 7 was how to continue to grow and do the kind of work that I have loved for so many years.
DG: What are you most grateful for right now, Diann?
DB: Everybody who's around me now is truly meant to be there. You can't just trust your career (to someone or something) based on your past. You have to know how to position yourself for the future. And I'm in great hands.
Diann Burns Co-anchors the 5, 6 and 10 p.m. news broadcasts on CBS 2 Chicago, WBBM-TV.
E-mail: david.ronald@earthlink.net
