This Just In

by Joe, Yolanda

• ISBN13: 9780385492560
• ISBN10: 0385492561
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-04-01
• Publisher: Doubleday

Summary

Yolanda Joe, the bestselling author ofHe Say, She SayandBebe's by Golly Wow!, is back with her most heartfelt novel yet--a delicious peep into the lives of women who work in the cutthroat world of broadcast news. While portraying the slippery business of television news through the lives of five friends--four black and one white--who work at the fictional WKBA in Chicago, Joe investigates two explosive topics, racism and sexism. Joe, who was a broadcast newswriter for more than a decade,writes with the singular knowledge of an insider. Step into the all-consuming world of TV news as Joe weaves her way through the lives of her unforgettable characters: upstart reporter/anchor Holly Johnston--the drop-dead-gorgeous new kid on the block, striving to prove she's up to the task and more than just eye candy; broadcast veteran Alexandra Harbor, WKBA's sole black female photographer--talented, burned out, trying valiantly to keep her last good nerve intact; wife/mother/novice producer Kenya Adams, struggling to make the transition from print reporter to TV newswriter/producer without sacrificing her family life in the process; WKBA's first camerawoman, Meg "Beans" Rippley--white, working-class, and troop leader to many women in the office, wondering if her friendships with the black women at WKBA will withstand the fallout from a newsroom racist incident; and Denise Mitzler, a trailblazing news manager who finds herself stuck between being a "company woman" and doing the right thing when a crisis arises... Filled with fascinating tidbits and page-turning twists,This Just In...brims with fun and intrigue. As the characters negotiate the glass ceiling and contend with office politics and corporate roulette, Joe plumbs her signature themes of friendship and family, and gets to the heart of issues that will strike a chord with women everywhere. previous territory and investigates two explosive topics, racism and sexism, while portraying the slippery world of broadcast news through the lives of five friends--four black and one white--who work at WKBA in Chicago. Filled with fascinating insider tidbits and page-turning twists, Joe weaves her way into the lives of her characters: Upstart reporter/anchor Holly Johnston; broadcast veteran Alexandra Harbor; wife/mother/producer Kenya Adams; WKBA's first female cameraman Meg "Beans" Rippley; and corporate trailblazing news manager Denise Mitzler. As these women try to negotiate the glass ceiling and contend with office politics and corporate roulette, Joe plumbs her signature themes of friendship and family, and gets to the heart of issues that will strike a chord with women everywhere. -->

Author Biography

Yolanda Joe is the author of the Blackboard bestselling books <b>Bebe's by Golly Wow!</b>, <b>He Say, She Say</b>, and <b>Falling Leaves of Ivy</b>. A former newswriter for CBS in Chicago, Joe graduated from Yale University and the Columbia School of Journalism and is a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. She lives in Chicago.

Excerpts

Headlines

Dateline: Chicago. March 1998.

Coming Up Next on WKBA-TV:

First:

Holly Johnston--

Reporter/Anchor. Twenty-five years old. California pretty. Black Bourgeois. Considered a lightweight. Holly wants to prove her journalism skills to the WKBA newsroom. But how?

Then:

Alexandra Harbor--

The only black woman photographer. Thirty-six years old. A Chicago native. She battles sexism and racism. This broadcast veteran is talented, burned out, and volatile. She struggles to stay focused and afloat at WKBA.

And:

Kenya Adams--

An uprooted small-town Southern girl. Twenty-six years old. A print reporter at heart, she struggles to make the tough transition to writing and producing TV news. Kenya's drive to succeed jeopardizes her home life with her med school husband and toddler son.

Also:

Megan Rippley--

Nickname: Beans. Forty-four years old. The first woman to become a photographer at WKBA. White. Working class. Chicagoan. Slight stutterer. Manages problem by talking in phrases. Beans is also considered a sort of troop leader to the other women in the newsroom. But there are racism struggles. Will those struggles damage her respect and friendship with the black women at WKBA?

Plus:

Denise Mitzler--

A trailblazer. One of the first black women managers working for a network-owned station in a top-five market. Forty-one years old. Denise is scrappy. Reared on the East Coast and college-educated. Her sights are set on reaching the top. But Denise fights to find balance. Should she correct years of racism at WKBA? Should Denise rock the boat? When does fairness end and reverse racism begin?

All Those Stories and More.

This Just In . . .

Starts Right Now.

Holly

Reporter/Anchor

All eyes were on me.

I walked through the WKBA newsroom. It was a whirling hub of activity. In the large oval-shaped space with rectangular metal desks, my new coworkers sat up, stopped what they were doing, and openly stared.

All eyes were on me.

In whispers, my new colleagues debated my existence and my worth as though I weren't there. Is that the new reporter? Yes that's her. Do you think she's pretty? In a common sort of way. Think she'll make it? Who knows? Who cares? How ironic; I felt visible yet invisible.

All eyes were on me.

I was following my new boss's executive secretary, Vera. She's fiftyish and petite. Vera has literally grown up at this station. Recently Vera celebrated her twenty-fifth year on the job. You could do that behind the scenes in a nondecision-making position, you could stay twenty to thirty years at one television station.

But it's not like that for reporters and anchors. For us, television stations have revolving doors. Broadcast news is a complicated game, it's a lot of stick and move.

I was coming from a tiny but well-respected station located in Palm Springs. In news, no one really tries to stay rooted at one particular station until they get to the big time--New York, Chicago, L.A. That's what WKBA/Chicago is--the big time. And I'm determined to stick.

I kept my diva face and accompanying strut going full throttle despite all the emotion churning inside of me. Who will my new friends be? Will I get off to a good start?

It wasn't that I hadn't been in WKBA's newsroom before. I had, actually, for a final interview with Kal Jimper, the vice president/general manager. He's the number-one guy.

I met with the news director too--Mitch Saleen. He's the number-two guy, responsible for the overall daily operations within the newsroom.

Then I was briefly introduced to Garth Ingalls, the executive producer, a tall man with steel blue eyes and a whiskey voice. I met Denise Mitzler too. She's managing editor. Denise is a classy sister with a no-nonsense demeanor.

But Kal Jimper and Mitch Saleen were the ones I had to win over. And I did win them over so here I am.

"You'll like Chicago," Vera chatted as we walked. "There's so much to do! Blues. Jazz. Theater. Great summer festivals in Grant Park. I've lived here all my life and I love it."

"You never thought about moving?"

"Once," she said. "My husband is a car salesman. He thought he could do better in Dallas. At the time my twin boys were babies. But we thought since my family is here, and his family is here, it wasn't worth going to a new place where we didn't know anyone."

I nodded--I was now in a strange new place where I didn't know anyone.

"Plus," Vera chatted on, "I ended up getting a better job at 'KBA. At first I was in the mailroom. I got to know everyone in the building. When people heard that I was thinking about leaving, the news director gave me a job as his secretary. That convinced us to stay."

"I hope I like it here as much as you do."

"You will." Vera smiled pleasantly. Now we had reached the last desk on the third row. "Well, Holly, here's your spot. I sit right around the corner there," Vera pointed, "outside Mitch's door. Holler if you need help."

"Thanks."

"That's good advice!" someone complimented as she walked away. "Vera's number one around here!"

"Rerack your tape, baby," a voice jackknifed through the air. "Hazel Morriette is the top bitch around here and don't you forget it!"

I turned to look at the woman who spoke with such cutting pride. Hazel Morriette was sitting across from my work space with her right arm draped across the back of her plaid desk chair. She gnawed at me with a hungry gaze that made me both uneasy and guarded. Hazel seductively snapped her wrists as she whipped the telephone chord around and around in the air. With a sly smile, she cooed, "My dear, you are in the presence of greatness. I am Hazel Morriette, senior anchor at WKBA."

Lucky me. Hazel was on vacation during my final interview at WKBA but I'd heard about her. Oh yes. I'd heard that Hazel was like radiation--the less exposure the better. Her story is a lesson in Journalism 101. Who: Hazel Morriette. What: 10 p.m. anchor. When: Since 1987. Where: WKBA Chicago. Why: Solid audience recognition and tight with network brass.

Hazel has glossy black hair that flows past her shoulders. A streak of gray adorns the sides of each temple. Hazel has stunning bone structure, from her sculpted eyes to a dimple that centers in her chin. But age has forced a heavy hand when it comes to Hazel's makeup. She's camouflaging wrinkles and a splatter of age spots. Hazel had on a Donna Karan dress and Gucci shoes. Be friendly, I thought. After all, what had I done to her? So I smiled at Hazel Morriette.

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Excerpted from This Just In by Yolanda Joe
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