Favorite Television Personality
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39.27% Linda Jackson (WISE)*
Others with Votes (more than one):
* On the ballot |
Linda Jackson needs to call her mother to tell her something she probably already believes - that her daughter is the most popular television personality in the market. Clearly lots of other people feel that way, too. Now the WISE 33 news anchor has a Whammy to prove it. “It feels great,” Jackson said the day after the Whammy Awards Show. “I’ve been polishing it and showing it off at work.” As she expected, she got a little good-natured on-air ribbing from her co-workers following the win, she said. But a little clowning around is to be expected. For Jackson, life has always been something of a circus. This year’s Whammy winner for Most Popular Television Personality not only grew up in Peru, the circus capital of the world, she spent more than a decade as a member of the city’s children’s circus. “The circus was literally in my backyard,” Jackson, who anchors the news for WISE 33, said. Jackson probably didn’t know it then, but the training she got first as a seven-year-old kid clown with the circus until she finished up the gig 12 years later as a trapeze artist doing double somersaults in an act with her sister and twin brother, likely made the transition to her current job easier. After all, what could be more fitting than a move from aerial acrobat to aerial news reporter? “I’ve always joked that I moved from one circus to another,” she said. Jackson is a 1988 graduate of the Indiana University School of Journalism. She spent the summer after graduation working at a radio station in Peru. She’s been at WISE 33 for the past 18 years. For Jackson, who lives in Fort Wayne with her husband, Scott, and their eight-year-old son, Blake, the best part of her job as news anchor is her contact with the community. “This is very much a people business,” she said. “I love meeting people and telling stories about them. The good thing about this job is you have a chance to really delve into the personal side of a story.” Jackson has had offers from lager markets but none that could wrest her away from the community she loves. “I really enjoy it here,” she said. “Hopefully, I can continue doing what I’m doing for a long time.” Jackson’s not sure where she is going keep her Whammy, but you can bet her mother has a place for it. (Mark Hunter) |
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