August 18, 2007 Saturday

Familiar faces at black journalists convention have fond memories of Kansas City

By Steve Penn
Kansas City Star

The anchors and reporters on local TV often become integral parts of our lives. We take them into our homes each day, watching them mature professionally before moving on to other markets.

The National Association of Black Journalists convention is fertile territory to run into an array of reporters and anchors nurtured in this market.

Here are a few who were at the convention last week in Las Vegas.

Tracy Townsend is back where it all started for her.

Townsend once was a fixture as an anchor at KCTV-5. Now she is a fixture at WBNS-TV in Columbus, Ohio, where she anchors the weekend editions. She knows the area like the back of her hand, having grown up in Cincinnati and having graduated from Ohio State University.

Townsend was an anchorwoman at KCTV-5 from 1993 to 2000 before moving to WBBM-TV in Chicago. Now she is back in her home state. Her parents live in Columbus.

"I'm truly back home now," Townsend said. "But Kansas City is still a place I call home. I still have great friends there. I just miss the people and the friendliness.

"Honestly, I never thought when I moved there I would feel that way. I really feel like I grew up there."

Townsend can get specific. "I miss Jazzoo," she said. "I miss the Plaza. And I miss our church."

A former KCTV-5 reporter, Cynné Simpson, was at the convention. Simpson is now a news anchorwoman at CBS-46 News in Atlanta.

Simpson worked at KCTV-5 for about a year and a half before moving to Atlanta. She was among Ebony magazine's Young 30 for 2006.

"I'm enjoying Atlanta," Simpson said last week. "But I miss Kansas City. That community was so kind, warm and welcoming to me. I miss all my friends and my adopted family. I had a lot of people who looked out for me while I was there."

Simpson plans to return to Kansas City soon.

"I need a steak from Plaza III," Simpson said. "I need some Gates. And I need some shopping at the Country Club Plaza."

"It's Time for Times."

That was the winning campaign slogan of Kathy Times, a former reporter for KSHB-41, who was elected vice president of broadcast for the NABJ last week.

Times worked as a reporter and a fill-in anchorwoman for two years at KSHB in the late 1990s. She has worked the last five years as an investigative reporter for WVTM-TV in Birmingham, Ala. The job of vice president of broadcast is a post she has been yearning for.

"I'm proud and excited to serve more than 3,000 journalists from across the country," Times said. "It really is a dream come true and an honor."

Times thinks the experience she gained as vice president of broadcast for the local NABJ chapter was invaluable.

"I really got my training in KC, so to speak," Times said. "The KC members of the organization were great members and volunteers."

One event at the NABJ convention in Las Vegas had Heartland star power to it.

Oleta Adams, a local mainstay who went on to become a Grammy-nominated artist, performed an array of hits at the preview party for next year's Unity Convention, which will be in Chicago. The event was at the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. Her husband, John Cushon, a local product, kept the beat as her drummer.

To reach Steve Penn, call 816-234-4417 or send e-mail to spenn@kcstar.com