Fox News Live anchor Jon Scott talks to Journal-News reporter Susan Stewart about swimming with sharks, flying lessons, teaching Sunday school, flying Cessnas, and finding balance in life, in a very cool profile. Sitting in his office, Scott talks about life in the field and what keeps him from going to Iraq:
The Scott kids — Mom Sharon is an NBC executive — range in age from 8 to 16. Their images and artwork adorn every surface that isn't covered with a memento of Scott's reporting career. There's an Amazonian tribal blow gun, a painting bought in Moscow in the early days of Perestroika and a host of photos of Scott swimming with sharks —real ones, not network executives.
"I've had some great experiences reporting. I miss being out there. Frankly, I've thought about going to Iraq. But then something happens like what happened to (ABC anchor) Bob Woodruff, and I think, it's not so bad sitting here."
The 7 a.m. conference call consists of Scott and his producers discussing the news of the day — the news he'll anchor during the 9-10:30 a.m. slot, immediately following the chatty morning show "Fox & Friends." "The 7 o'clock kind of sets the tone for the day."
He gets a million viewers — twice as many, FOX is eager to say, as CNN at that hour.
On the air, he's low-key, affable — apparently, himself.
"I hope people think I'm solid."
...Life hasn't always been as smooth as it seems now. In 1996, Scott was happily roaming the world for "Dateline." FOX and anchor jobs weren't on his radar screen. Then came an explosion.
"Remember when the truck blew up?" This was the scandalous "Dateline" segment about about GM trucks with potentially volatile fuel tanks. To demonstrate their danger, somebody at "Dateline" had the bright idea to, well, blow them up. Scott didn't have anything to do with the story, but in the fallout, his was one of the heads that rolled.
"They offered to extend my contract for one year at the same salary, which is a way of saying, you're not all that valuable."
He left, went to "A Current Affair" for six months, then to the fledgling 24-hour news operation at FOX.
Talk about NBC's loss!
