To say there’s been a tremendous turnaround taking place at KSPR would be an understatement. The news product has gone from the worst in town to winning an Associated Press award for the best newscast in Missouri.
The two of the biggest pieces of the turnaround have to be main anchors Joe and Christine Daues. I was able to pin them down between newscasts to ask about the station, their accomplishments, the state of media and how working together has impacted their marriage.
The coolest thing is that these two off the air are just as real as they are on the air.
And before we get into the interview…congratulations to Joe and Christine on their impending bundle of joy! (They announced that they’re expecting their second child in a few months.)
LifeOfJason: Let’s ask the obvious question…is working together on the same newscast all you thought it would be? I know Joe’s called it your “dream job.”
Joe: And more.
Christine: It still is our dream job but it’s not all we thought it would be. We didn’t realize how much time we would be spending together.
J: As typical, we disagree on this. I think it’s all we thought it would be. It’s all that. But sometimes it’s too much and that’s the part that’s been hard to get used to.
C: Here’s what I don’t think we thought it would be…we didn’t realize how different it would be to be married but also take the role of co-workers. Because when you’re co-workers…which Joe and I both take our jobs seriously…it’s like we’re co-workers first when we come into the station so that’s a really different relationship than a marriage. There’s tension and you disagree on things and at the end of the day you have to stop and say “remember…marriage is first.”
So we had to remember that and that was the one thing I didn’t expect.
J: We had friends prepare us for it. You have to when you get home say “OK, we’re not working anymore.” It’s a work in progress I think is the best way to say it because we’re finding our limits. We joke about taking separate vacations but we’re getting closer to that.
LOJ: Had you given up on the idea of anchoring together when you went years without an opportunity?
C: We didn’t ever give up on it. I don’t think in my mind I ever gave up on it. We only looked at it for about three years before we both got out of the business. We got married when (Joe) was at KOLR-10 and I was at KY then we decided “OK, we’ll try to get jobs together” and then we went to Tulsa and I was a reporter there and Joe anchored so that kind of close and that was fun. We got to work together in the newsroom there. Then we got out of the business and I didn’t think about it for a while but it was always in the back of my head.
J: It wasn’t for me. I had truly given up TV. When we were out I thought “I’m done.” We found other jobs and when you get out of a certain career…and I’ve done this twice…you think “Wow! Look at all the opportunities to make money. Look at all the opportunities for a better home life and better hours.” So I said “I’m done” even though KSPR approached me about this a year and a half ago under on KY management and that was a joke. So the answer was no there.
LOJ: Joe, the fact you’re back on TV is interesting considering you said to Steve Koehler of the News-Leader in 2005 “”I don’t like where TV news is right now and where it’s gone. It’s being ruined, cheapened, right here in Springfield, too. People are really perplexed by what’s going on in broadcast news nowadays. Big money and profit margins have changed how stations present their news.” That’s very similar to comments the Mayor made recently when he said “It’s not like it used to be…there’s not the depth, there’s not the scope, there’s not the understanding on the part of the media on the topics that they’re covering” for which he was slammed by several media sources. Do you feel that overall what you said in 2005 is still accurate and (for both) do you think the Mayor had a point about Springfield media?
J: Yeah, I still agree with that. I don’t like where it’s gone and that’s in part why I think we took up the torch and thought “maybe we can do something to change this.” And that’s why this job has been so challenging for us. We’re going against a tide of news coverage and trying to do some different things.
When we were out of the media for two years we’d sit home at watch TV and say “we know that’s not true! That’s slanted!” or something like that. We didn’t like the way it’s covered. It’s not just Springfield…it’s all over. In fact, I think Springfield is a great media market. When you get bigger, it gets worse. The bigger the city the worse the media coverage.
That notwithstanding, what I said I still hold by. I think the news coverage in Springfield has gone way downhill and I’ve been here over 15 years. I’ve seen it for all that time and been a part of it for a good amount of that time. I can point to two or three stories this week that I don’t think should have been covered, some stories that have been over-covered and some stories that aren’t covered at all. Ron (Davis, KSPR producer) could tell you the same thing about the newspaper.
It’s changed. It’s just a different world right now and we’re in part responsible and part trying to hold our ground. You know, the age old journalist holding up the high ideals the way it used to be generally doesn’t exist anymore.
C: With what the Mayor said…I read what Sarah Overstreet had to say about it and I have to agree with Sarah more. You can’t discourage people from coming into a market or coming into a business and that’s really what (the Mayor) is really frustrated with, I think. There’s a lot of new reporters and there’s always going to be an immense amount of turnover in this business and you have to retrain people about the city, the city issues, the area…that’s just going to be the way it is.
But on the flip side, in a way, relating to what Joe said it’s a reason why we got back in. We’re very vested in this community. We have a lot of knowledge about it because we worked in media so long and we feel like we can add that extra level of value because we know the history. Maybe that’s what The Mayor was talking about because you don’t have that very present anymore.
A lot of long time people have left. At KY3, Tony Beason left, Christina King left, Jerry Jacob was a big one. Cara Connolly left. A lot of long time people are leaving. Dennis Graves was a great reporter.
Joe and I are glad to be in it because we can sit in the newsroom and hear our new reporters say “why does this story matter” and we can say “well, five years ago this thing happened and that’s why this matters.” There’s that extra level of value that if you get a newsroom full of all new people you’ve lost it.
J: It’s context and I thought that (Mayor) Tom (Carlson) is coming in part from where I came from because I covered him in radio when I first came here. He’s been around a long time and he’s seen it but he’s always fought the media in some respect. When Dan Shelley was news director at KTTS they butted heads on occasion.
But you know, that’s the way the system should be because in some respects we are the watchdogs of government. Often, government is going to think we’re being too nitpicky but that’s just the way it is.
C: There’s that struggle.
J: Yeah.
C: If that’s not there, someone’s not doing their job.
J: If it’s not there, we’re not telling you what’s going on in government and government’s going to think that they can do whatever they want.
That’s a healthy thing. It keeps people informed, it keeps government on its toes. The City Utilities audit was something that was covered incredibly by the newspaper and not as well, I think, by broadcast media but that’s an example about how everybody…the whole process…has to work together.
LOJ: Could you give us an example of some of the stories in Springfield that are being covered which you feel don’t deserve the coverage they receive?
C: I can give you one from yesterday that we talked about. There was a break-in at Wanda Gray elementary…well, it wasn’t really a break-in. A couple of windows were broken. We one of the stations in town do live shots and packages.
A package is like the big story of the day. You devote a reporter to the big story of the day and go a little bit more in-depth. Two windows broken out at an elementary school we feel didn’t deserve that kind of depth of coverage.
J: Here’s another example. Body found in a house that turned out to be a suicide. It’s still on their websites and still in their news. We didn’t cover it. A suicide’s not news.
Roland Comstock’s house went up for auction last night. Nobody bid. We found out about it right before ten. Nobody else in the market had it but it didn’t rise to the level so we put it on our website.
There are varying degrees of coverage. In some respects, some places are going all out and we have a better perspective of broadcast versus newspaper. For example, the newspaper went all out on the audit. That’s a newspaper story. When they did that City Utilties and city audit they just did every single section they could do on that. Too much so, thought the city and CU. I liked it.
C: It was good.
J: It was a good dissection of months of work so in respect it was very well covered. The sexy stuff…the Brad Pitt/Angelina Jolie…that junk…save that for Entertainment Tonight.
That’s where we’re coming from and when we sat down with management of KSPR about this job we said “that’s not where we’re at. We don’t want to do that, we don’t want to fall into that infotainment world.
C: You have to be careful though because we do cover Brad Pitt stories and you can find them on our website…
J: Yes, website.
C: …because he’s a local celebrity.
J: When’s the last time we had a story about him on our newscast?
C: Within the last year but here’s the thing: we debate that every day and that’s the beauty of KSPR. Those kinds of stories come up at our editorial meetings and we debate. Is it of interest to the viewer? Will they want to know this information? Those kinds of infotainment fall lower in the newscast.
Now, when we talk about stories that shouldn’t be covered as much as they are, I think of fatal car accidents. We put them on our website, we may put them in our news if they’re blocking traffic but you have to think “how many people does this story effect?”
We try to lead our newscast and devote our reporters to stories that will affect a lot of people. I think that’s why people tune in to TV news that’s what they want to see. “Oh, I can relate to that” or “That affects me, I’m interested.”
J: For years, though, the TV news has covered the news like a police blotter. It’s like “somebody died in a head on crash in Greenfield, Missouri.” That’s great on KTTS and they still do that but on TV news that’s not what news is about. Not to say that’s not important because obviously somebody lost their life and that’s tragic but we only have twelve minutes per newscast.
That’s why when I taught journalism this semester at MSU we tried to instill into young reporters that every second is important. Every single word we say is important in television news. So if we’re talking about a car crash that effected two families in one little part of our market, is that as important as something that’s lighter news but is affecting everyone?
C: New legislation to allow looser gun laws.
J: Taxes. All kinds of stuff out there. So in a way, I think we’re trying to re-fashion the way that news is delivered. That’s part of the reason we do the whole (Daily) Download thing. I think that helps us keep in touch with people a little better.
LOJ: When you came into KSPR, it was last place in the Springfield market, pretty much the last TV station considered by anybody. I hate to say that but it was pretty much the case…was part of the appeal the chance to come in and turn it around?
J: Yeah. It’s the underdog thing.
C: Build it from the ground up.
J: We were offered the chance to be a news anchor team in Beckley, West Virginia. We went through it. We drove twenty states that year looking for jobs as news anchors or an anchor/reporter. That was the only bite we had.
We thought “Nah, we’re not going to West Virginia.” We actually talked about it.
C: Yeah, we did.
J: That was before we had (their son) Joey. I think (the KSPR job) was more attractive to us because we thought “what a beautiful chance to from with a clean slate.”
C: Yes.
J: KY had just bought it a year ahead of time. Most people in here were new. We thought what a great chance it would be to build a station from the ground up. I’ve been here for most of the time this station has been on the air. I know it’s not been a contender.
The beauty is we recently won the Associated Press award for Top Newscast in the state.
C: Our ratings went up in May which was great.
J: So it’s incremental. It’s not like we’re shooting at the top. We’re not acting like we’re top dogs and we’re not.
C: But we’re fighting to be and that’s the beauty. Everyone here fights. Hard. You feel like David trying to slay the Goliath. We’re going to do this. I think everyone here believes that.
LOJ: How did it feel to so quickly receive the accolades of your peers by winning those Associated Press awards?
J: Honestly, it didn’t…
C: Oh come on, we were excited!
J: I was excited for everybody here. I didn’t think it was that big a deal. I’ve judged AP awards and MBA (Missouri Broadcasters Association) awards and competed in them for years on the radio side and the TV side.
C: Oh Joe, come on…
J: So for me what matters is going to be the ratings jump.
C: That’s true.
J: That part was nice. I was telling a buddy of mine that used to be my news director at KJEL in Lebanon. He said to me “great job on the AP” and I said “yeah, but I don’t know who all entered that.” I assume everybody in the state enters that.
C: Yeah, they do. I read something about that. I don’t remember where but I did.
J: I don’t really like to blow our horn unless I can play a great tune. But I think that we were excited as a newsroom.
C: Sure! It was a milestone. As you said, this station’s been in the toilet forever. It’s been the last choice. To win best newscast in the state, that says something about what we’re doing. It means we’re doing something right.
J: You know what’s unique is that it was our 4:30 and our ten o’clock…the two newscasts that have the (Daily) Download in them. First and second.
LOJ: I wasn’t going to ask this but you talked about the David and Goliath feelings, you talked about the underdog attitude…do you feel things are changing that the new way you are doing things is putting you in a place to take out the KY3s and the KOLR-10s who have been doing things the same way for years? Is what you’re doing the next wave of television news?
(At this point, Joe fakes indignation and walking out of the room.)
J: I think the next wave has everything to do with the internet.
C: And that’s partly what we’re doing.
J: But now, specifically, to take over KY3’s dominance in the market. KY3 didn’t just get dominant overnight. It’s taken years.
C: Thirty, forty years.
J: In markets all around the country there are very few examples where the top station has twice the ratings of the next closest competitor (as KY3 has.) Which is not us, by the way. That’s the guys across town (at KOLR.) Our job is not to slay (the KY3) Goliath. Our job is to slay the Goliath across town.
Now, you’ve got to hope that you’re going to do that (take out KY3.) That’s our mountain peak; that’s our Everest; but we’re trying to get to each ledge ahead of us first. You can’t just say “we’re going to go up there.” You have to map your route first.
And it is baby steps for us, don’t you think?
C: Absolutely. I think that’s what we’re doing. I think that’s why we’ve had the increase in ratings.
A reporter candidate asked us that very question. He asked us what did we think it would take for us to be number one in this market and both of us without looking at each other said “time.” It’s time. That’s what changes viewer habits. KY3 like Joe said has been dominant. People automatically think of KY3.
J: And it’s a great product.
C: It is a great product. They’re our sister station so we applaud what they’re doing but we are hoping that we tap into the people who are looking for something a little different with their local news and aren’t happy with what they’ve had for all these years.
LOJ: Christine, you touched on this earlier. How is it harder on your marriage to work together as you do? How do you balance your work and home life?
J: Arm wrestling.
C: It’s what I said at the beginning. We have to remember that we’re married first and co-workers second. I think that’s the key to keep that top of mind even when we’re at work. Joe and I found ourselves getting into arguments that are getting a little….I don’t want to say hostile…
J: Testy.
C: Testy! We were taking the gloves off. But in marriage I think you have to respect, be kind to each other because you’re partners. We have to keep that top of mind because we don’t want to take the gloves off to the point where we reach a point of no return in our marriage.
We talked about it a lot and I think we figured it out. It’s made our marriage stronger. It’s been a challenge in a way.
J: It’s been a huge challenge.
C: It has.
J: Here’s the thing, we’re very passionate people about what we do. When we’re in here we’re usually arguing about different sides of the spectrum. So it’s part of a community discussion so it’s not just us…but often it is you and me going at it. It doesn’t help to have desks right next to each other.
C: In our new newsroom at KY3 we’re going to have desks across the room we think.
But we still love it and on the weekends we have a great life together and we’re home with our son…it’s the family and that’s what’s important.
J: That’s true.
LOJ: Speaking of family time… you’re always approached by charities to MC events. I know you did the Council of Churches event earlier this week. How do you decide which ones you’re going to do because you can’t do them all and keep your family time?
C: That’s a good point because you can’t do it all. We struggle although Joe and I said that in the first year to promote KSPR…because one of our biggest jobs as the two anchors is to promote the station…we said yes to everything. Have we turned anything down? Maybe one or two. So far there hasn’t really been any criteria.
Another thing to keep in mind is that weekends are pretty precious to us so if we have a weekend event we take our son with us. I think 90% of the time we do unless it’s an evening event where it’s a late night thing and then we get a baby sitter.
J: Well, for example, we’re doing the Chris Sifford memorial run tomorrow and we’re bringing Joey.
C: We did a run for The Kitchen a few weeks ago. We MC’d that and we brought him. We put him in the stroller and we took him with us. If we can take him that’s what we try to do. When the second child comes along we might have to scale back a little bit.
J: Here’s the deal. I want to do everything and Christine’s the one always pulling the reins back. She’s the one who balances it out because I believe it’s part of the job.
C: Well, I do too but you have to set your limits.
LOJ: And the fun question to wrap this up…if you could sit one person down in a studio…they can’t leave and they have to honestly answer any question you give them, who would it be and why?
J: Gerald Carnahan.
C: Oh, that’s a good one. That would be like sitting O.J. Simpson down.
J: He’s sort of the scapegoat suspect in so many cases because of the Jackie Johns thing. I’d like to put to bed a lot of stuff out there to which his name has been swirling around for years.
C: The first one that came to mind was (Greene County Prosecutor) Darrell Moore for some reason. Wouldn’t that be interesting to sit the Prosecutor down and make him answer everything?
J: He knows all kinds of stuff.
C: I know he does.
J: Matt Blunt would be a great one. I’d like to know some of the things going on in his head.
David Tennant is set to leave Dr. Who…leaving the producers to find the 11th doctor. They’re supposedly looking at Robert Carlyle as a replacement. I think Carlyle would do a good job but I really like the way Tennant plays the role of the good Doctor.
– 75 cents each way;
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