In the meantime, audience research proved Channel 5 viewers were still upset at her dismissal, and in turn, a new general manager invited Green to return to her former anchor desk.
“I was there for 11 more wonderful years until last December when another short-term general manager decided I was not what the viewers wanted,” Green said.
Yet on Oct. 23, the Syracuse Press Club welcomed four new members to its Wall of Distinction, and Green was among those recognized. The Wall of Distinction honors CNY broadcast and print legends.
Eagle Bulletin/DeWitt Times Editor Tami S. Zimmerman had the chance to follow up with an interview, and asked questions pertaining to Green’s life both on and off camera. Here’s what she had to say:
When did you first become interested in broadcasting?
I didn’t take the usual fervent path to a career. Some of my college classmates knew exactly what they wanted to do and I wondered what was wrong with me for having no idea. It was a process of elimination. I was good at writing and very, very bad at math. At some point during college, I focused on the careers that offered writing opportunities. My early inspiration was Natalie Jacobson at WCVB TV in Boston whom I watched while growing up in Worcester, Mass.
You can’t imagine my out of body experience when a student on the Syracuse University campus approached our news van in the early 90s to say I reminded him of Natalie. How could he even be aware I knew who she was?
What were some highs and lows in your career?
In the late 1980s I was a young mom trying to have it all: the marriage, the kids, the career. I was working long hours and missing my babies a lot. There was a house fire in Syracuse one day and my cameraman and I were dispatched to it.
I think my guard was down, because I arrived in time to see Syracuse firefighters carrying out two little children, unconscious and flopping like rag dolls, and I lost it. They could have been mine. I was sobbing on the sidewalk as I watched the medics do their work. I was scheduled to anchor the noon news within a half-hour of that scene and I fought tears all the way through. The audience must have known something was wrong because my eyes were puffy and I wasn’t myself. That day changed me. By the way, those injured children survived, thank God, or I may have quit.
One of the high points in my career followed that low point, when my boss told me I could reduce my hours to spend more time at home, and for 19 years I pinched myself for having achieved a heavenly balance of home and professional life.
What are some of your hobbies?
I have a long list of hobbies that generally involve creativity and working with my hands; sewing, gardening, refinishing furniture, making jewelry and painting landscapes.
This summer I was excited to work with my friend Carrie Lazarus in creating a hand painted Adirondack chair for the Extreme Home Makeover project in Geneva.
Are you involved with any volunteer organizations?
I’m still involved in this community that has given me so much. Just this fall the Turning Stone had me back as a member of the Upstate New York Empowerment Fund of the PGA Tour Event.
Why do you think you touched so many hearts and homes?
Over the years people told me that men saw me as the girl next door and women saw me as someone like them, trying to give birth and wear a belt again someday. The audience saw me as I was – imperfect, but trying hard to be a good broadcaster and an even better mom.
To what do you attribute your successful career?
Good luck, good timing and crazy optimism. I came out of broadcasting school in 1981 when every television station in the country was trying to introduce women to the anchor desk. I was a kind person willing to work odd hours in a field I loved.
When your job was eliminated at WTVH, what was your initial reaction and why did you feel it was the right time to retire from TV? Do you think you’ll ever return?
I didn’t think of it as a retirement. I still don’t. I’m enjoying time with my family more than you can imagine, but in the back of my mind I think of returning to the right situation someday, and that may or may not be in television.
There are pages of comments posted online in response to a news article written last December that announced your dismissal. Many still ask, “Why?”
First of all, those comments from the audience on Syracuse.com are a treasure. I’ve read them over and over. They were a real source of comfort back then.
These days, when a company lets you go, they don’t allow you to speak publicly or they’ll take back the small cushion they provided for you on your way out.
Of course it’s very difficult to be told you’re no longer wanted, and in my case, the boss who didn’t want me took a new job out of town three months later. I don’t dwell on it. I believe everything works out for the best and my life now is proof of that
How did the transition affect you? Do you miss your daily connection with Syracuse viewers?
You know how you joke at work about living for Friday? It’s no joke anymore. Every day feels like the weekend is here, with more time for everyone and everything I enjoy. The family dinner hour is my favorite time of day and I’m travelling a lot with my husband.
As for the connection with the audience, I’m still around, and people approach me to say the kindest, most supportive things. Some people say they miss me and some people don’t realize I’m gone. They say they watch me every night, which warms my heart. Having moved from New England in 1980, I will say that Syracusans are the friendliest people on the planet.
More people are turning to the Internet for their news. In your opinion, how do you think it affects a newscast and in what direction do you think TV news is going?
TV news is definitely being forced to evolve. Who ever thought something could be more instantaneous than satellite television coverage? But the Internet tops everything now and you can’t beat it for portability. In order for TV news to survive, I think stations need to respond to on-demand and interactive programming. The audience wants instant access to who and what they’re seeing, which is why I started the viewer web chats at Channel 5. It’s a feature they continued after I left.
You recently got married – congratulations! Please tell us about your family.
Thank you for asking about my amazing family! My husband is Tom Greenwood, a lifelong Central New Yorker. He graduated from Jamesville-Dewitt High School and Hamilton College and has a Master’s degree from Syracuse University. He’s a real estate developer in Syracuse and the son of one of this area’s first female developers, Mary Wiesner, who is a cherished role model for me. The funniest thing is Tom’s brother is married to former WSTM anchor Paula Garrell. So Paula is my sister-in-law.
My children are Natalie, 22, Harry 20, Charlie, 19, Christian, 15 and my beautiful little stepson, Parker, is 10.
Congratulations on being honored by the Syracuse Press Club! What is your response to its recognition of your long term broadcasting career?
It’s so humbling to be included among the greats in Syracuse journalism. I admired their work through the years and hardly consider myself worthy.
My first response was I’m not old enough to be on that wall, but my children remind me that yes, I’m plenty old enough.
What advice do you have for women who aspire to be journalists?
Work hard – extra hard – to get the job you want. And never forget that the benefits of any job should go both ways.
