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Name: Elizabeth Vargas
Degree and Year: BJ '84 (Broadcast News)
Company: ABC News
Company Web Site: http://abcnews.go.com/
Title: Co-Anchor, "20/20"
City and State: New York, N.Y.
Elizabeth Vargas, BJ '84
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Growing up, Elizabeth Vargas' home was void of only one thing -- a television. The daughter of military parents, Vargas traveled the world, from Lake of the Ozarks, Mo., to Germany, and learned about the world through her own eyes and local print media. Thus, it was no surprise that she wanted to be a newspaper journalist when she arrived at the University of Missouri-Columbia.
The basic newswriting course changed Vargas' mind. Feeling stifled by the inverted pyramid style, she switched her focus to radio and then to broadcast news, reporting and anchoring for KOMU. Vargas says she appreciates the School's flexibility because it allowed her to explore various aspects of journalism.
Vargas, BJ '84, was hired as a reporter at a small television station in Reno, Nev., upon graduation and quickly was moved to the anchor slot. Larger market opportunities in Phoenix and Chicago followed. At each, she heard the same evaluation: You are an excellent reporter but not a very good anchor. Vargas' solution was to focus on her natural strengths, and she became determined to be the best reporter in her market.
Vargas joined NBC in 1993. After working with shows such as NBC Nightly News and the Today Show, she knew she had found her niche.
"In network news I could be myself, and I had confidence in myself," Vargas says. She attributes her success to the knowledge she received doing live, local news.
"Working in local television, I always wanted to be the lead story," Vargas says. "It was that fast-paced, aggressive reporting that prepared me for network news. In live news you have to be agile and adept and be able to think fast and make decisions."
Vargas realizes that network news is harnessed by trends in the media such as tabloid stories.
"That's discouraging, but we are a business," Vargas says. "We have to appeal to viewers. The bottom line rests with how many viewers we are bringing in."
Although Vargas and her colleagues may be discouraged by the tabloid stories, she says they require the same thorough preparation as any other news story. The dilemma lies in trying to keep the balance between hard news and entertainment news. Being comfortable and confident in your questions, she says, is a good way to start.
Vargas says the balance of a career and family has been very hard for her and her husband, but that she really loves being a mother.
"Women in this business all struggle," she says. "Not a lot of women have figured out how to be both a great mother and a great journalist. My children need 'Vargas the mommy,' not 'Vargas the journalist.'"
Vargas says motherhood has allowed her to connect with stories in ways she didn't previously, particularly a recent piece about the children from Beslan, Russia, and their recent experiences with terrorism. Vargas traveled to the town to see how they were coping with the attack. Some of the children were killed, but others survived.
"It was an amazing and difficult and moving story to tell," she says. "Now that I am a mother, I felt a real connection with the story. One of the surviving children was 21 months old, the same age my son was at the time."
Vargas has some advice for those interested in or working in news: "Read everything you can get your hands on. Be culturally aware, but don't be afraid to say you don't know something." She says to be really smart and never compromise your integrity. Act and dress responsibly and professionally.
Vargas also has some special advice for women. She says women must recognize they are powerful in anchoring and reporting positions, but are underrepresented in key executive decision-making and management positions. Vargas advises women to prepare to work to gain those positions.
"The most important thing at the end of the day," Vargas says, "is to love what you do, and remember that it's the slow and steady pace that wins the race."
News Releases
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Dec. 7, 2005: Missouri Journalism Graduate Gets ABC Anchor Spot Missouri School of Journalism graduate Elizabeth Vargas was picked Monday as one of two anchors to replace Peter Jennings on ABC's evening newscast, "World News Tonight." Vargas, 43, will join Bob Woodruff to replace Jennings, who died of lung cancer in early Aug.. The announcement makes the duo the first co-anchors of an evening newscast since "CBS Evening News" was hosted by Dan Rather and Connie Chung. Vargas will remain co-host of ABC's "20/20." [More]
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