2005 Favorite Television Personality
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30.04% Linda Jackson (WISE)*
Others with Votes (more than one):
* On the ballot |
It has been quite a year for Linda Jackson, the popular news anchor on Indiana’s News Center. She survived the wholesale cleansing of WISE 33’s news staff when the station got bought up by WTPA. She was honored as a "Future 40" award recipient by Fort Wayne Business Journal, and won a Whammy as Favorite TV Personality, an honor she repeated this year. The shakeup prompted by the WPTA-WISE merger into the newly christened Indiana’s News Center threw a lot people off balance, including Jackson. She had spent 18 years at WISE 33, coming to the station following her graduation from Indiana University in Bloomington in 1988. Throwing Jackson off balance can’t be easy. After all, she spent much of her childhood in Peru as a circus acrobat. "I’m really surprised," Jackson said after collecting her Whammy. "Especially after such a challenging year." Jackson, though, said she doesn’t mind challenges. "I’ve always believed that change can be positive," she said. "I have an open mind. I tend to be an optimist." Jackson says she loves her community. It shows. On weekends she hosts a community affairs program that focuses on people who run not-for-profit organizations. The show aims to educate the viewing public about the many local organizations committed to helping those in need throughout the community. "The special part for me is that I learn a lot," Jackson said. Jackson said she enjoys broadcast journalism because it's a "people business." She describes it as educational, challenging and fun. She also says it's a wonderful opportunity to get to know her adopted hometown community of Fort Wayne and Northeast Indiana. She and her husband have a young son who is the light of their lives. They all enjoy sports, movies and local restaurants. She doesn’t plan on going anywhere. "I think longevity and loyalty mean something in a city this size," she said. "I’m very close to my hometown, not to mention my husband, and I love raising our son in this community." And the fact that she now has two Whammys for her desk. |
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