Categories: OLD Media Moves

Overcoming multiple job rejections

Richard Huff of the New York Daily News profiles Fox Business Network anchor Jenna Lee, whose early career was marked by numerous people telling her she wasn’t cut out for television.

Huff writes, “She’s anchoring on a business news network at a time when business news is at a high point. This week, the network has a ‘Red Ink’ theme going, with the focus on debt, from the government to the average Joe.

“‘This has been an incredible time for me,’ she says. ‘It’s given me a lot of confidence that I could handle breaking news of other topics, not just business.’

“With the exposure, though, has come a legion of followers, many commenting on her looks, rather than her expertise in the money markets.

“‘My looks aren’t going to help me explain mortgage-backed securities,’ she says. ‘In the realm of things that are unexpected, I never expected to be perceived that way. I was a tomboy growing up. Quite frankly, I don’t know what to do with it. I don’t walk into a room and think people are checking me out.'”

View Comments

Plan says:
June 10, 2009 at 2:00 pm
The thing is, she would not be an anchor, much less a reporter, on the Fox Business Network if not for her looks. She's not a stupid woman -- surely she realizes that.
Television news is a joke, and this is one of the biggest reasons. Instead of hiring brilliant women, the news outlets hire models and it's a crapshoot whether they're intelligent and can conduct an engaging interview, like Martha McCallum, or bumbling idiots, like Contessa Brewer.