Scott Harris - The Journalist

I met Scott Harris 11 years ago, when I started at Central Florida News 13.

I was hired as a news producer, and started working the night shift.  The anchor at the time, Scott Harris.

I didn't know much about the man, but I knew what that I was scared of him.

He was a serious journalist.  An "old school" news man who would question and rewrite every single story before he read it.

"Who wrote this?"  "Why is this news?"  "Where did we get this information"  All these were common questions for each story he was asked to read on the air.

As a producer, the worst answer you could give was, "I don't know."

He would insist on getting the facts straight.  And if it was a story he just didn't like, or didn't think was news, get ready.  He would cut the majority of the story and you'd be left with three sentences and about a :15 second story.  Makes it hard as a producer to build the show.

Scott always explained that being an anchor was about much more then just being on television.  He was the face, yes, but it was his responsibility to the viewer to make sure they trusted him.  It's his reputation on the line, not mine as the producer.  No one at home knows who I am.

This made him one of the greatest teachers in my life.

He taught me the difference between county/city government; the difference between police/sheriff; the difference between council members and commissioners.

But his single greatest gift, his knowledge of politics and space.

Even just having Scott do one quick NASA-related story, you could tell this man knew his stuff. 

I remember the very first time I wrote a shuttle package script for him, and he didn't change a word.  I remember exactly where I was at that time, because it was such a big deal.  I really thought, "I finally get it." But I don't think I ever will...

By 2003, I was promoted to Executive Producer.  One Saturday morning my pregnant self was home in pajamas, eating Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and flipping tv channels.  I was the "on-call" manager that day and I knew there was a shuttle landing, so I thought I should pay attention. 

I turned on NASA TV and all was well...but just a few minutes later there was a comment that there was no communication with space shuttle Columbia, and I knew (thanks to Scott's previous lectures on the subject) that while there was a time when communication was lost, there was a specific time period that it should be restored, so if it wasn't, something may be wrong.

My first phone call, to Scott Harris.  This is how I remember the phone call...

ME: "Hey Scott, it's Jen...are you watching the shuttle landing?"
SCOTT: "I just woke up and was about to turn it on....what's up?"
ME: "GET TO WORK.  NASA lost communication with the shuttle."

He hung up and was at work 30 minutes or so later.  One of the best decisions I've ever made as a manager.

He sat on the anchor desk for hours, with my other good friend Jennifer Roberts.  And the two of them made some television magic.

Scott asked for us to get him a model of the space shuttle so he can demonstrate to viewers what had happened to Columbia upon return into the earth's orbit. And that wasn't an easy task! We called all around and could only find models of shuttles in thousands of pieces that had to be put together.  Finally, one appeared and again, television magic.

That was just one of the many days that Scott Harris hands down beat those network news guys.  He seemed to have the shuttle operation manual memorized and was able to break it down in a way that no one could ever match.

It was also this day that I realized Scott was much more then just an "anchorman."  He was a lover of knowledge, a former engineer in the Air Force and had emotions, because during a short "smoke break" he was visibility upset at the destruction of the space shuttle.  It was an emotion that I had not seen before now. 

It was also at this point, at least in my memory, that Scott and I became a team. Something clicked between us that we just understood each other, trusted each other and began to rely on the other to push through the tough times.

For some reason, the work bosses let us just go and produce television.  We went to political events, shuttle launches/landings, even drove to a meeting about water in St. Augustine.  Stories that no other station really ever touched, especially in the way Scott did.

We would spend hours in the car together, where he would basically lecture me on our surroundings, or the importance of the people we met or events we witnessed. 

He would introduce me to people as, "Jen's my Don Hewitt." Sometimes he would throw out other random names, and I would try to remember them so I could run home and google what he was talking about.

We shared great knowledge, great laughs and great memories. He would share his history-rich knowledge, and I would verse him on my pop-culture knowledge.  He was the yin to my yang.

He would make it a point to "get out of the building" daily during lunch, to "clear your head."  We went to lunch almost daily, and would rarely ever talk about anything work-related.  It was always about an issue or idea.

We would also joke that people probably thought we were a couple...and older man with a younger woman.    He would talk about his son, his sailing, the cats that lived in his backyard "jungle."  He let me see him more then just a newsman, but a real man.

He would walk me to my car every night, making sure I got there safe.  He would send me off with a big sigh, and then..."See ya Jen....enjoy your kids...have a good night..."[[posterous-content:pid___1]]