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10 Questions with ... Geraldo Rivera
September 8, 2020
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
WABC-TV/New York; ABC News; "Geraldo" daytime talk show; CNBC; Fox News; WABC/New York; WTAM/Cleveland (and podcast "Roadkill With Geraldo" for iHeartRadio).
Geraldo's special series on his 50 years in journalism, "I Am Geraldo: 50 Years," is available on-demand on Fox Nation.
Going back to the beginning of your media career, when you made the transition from law to TV news, what were your career expectations? Did you expect that 50 years later, you'd be doing what you're doing, or have done what you've done?
I had no idea that I would end up in the news business. I was a 26-year old, long-haired street reporter who had gained a bit of notoriety through my representation of a Puerto Rican activist group called the Young Lords in Spanish Harlem. Al Primo, the creator of Eyewitness News recruited me to enroll in a program at Columbia Graduate School of Journalism run by Fred Friendly, who had been Edward R. Murrow’s producer. The goal of the program was the integration of the local news team to make it better reflex the ethnic and racial diversity of the city the show sought to serve. To me, it was a way out of radical lawyering, which, in the wake of the Kent State massacre, was becoming more militant and counter-productive.
Your accomplishments in the media are too long to list, but there have been high points and low points, as in any career. Of all the things you've done in the media, what one moment is your favorite, and which would you most like to take back and do over?
That’s an impossible question since over the last half century I’ve interviewed most of the movers and shakers and monsters of the second half of the 20th century. Castro, Arafat, Charles Manson on the one hand, Jagger, Lennon, Streisand and the other. I’ve interviewed all the presidents of my era, and you know I have a special relationship with Donald Trump, the 45th president. My biggest regret by far was writing ‘Exposing Myself’ a tell-all in 1990. It embarrassed some folks that didn’t need to be exposed, and I’m sorry I wrote it, and apologize to those affected.
You returned to radio at WTAM in 2018; what about doing radio appeals most to you? Why radio?
Having a local radio show and national podcast has really helped me connect to this unique community. Not only does it help me understand this community which is so different from my old hometown of New York, but it also demonstrates to my adopted hometown of Cleveland that Erica and I are here to stay.
You've been in the news a lot for interviewing President Trump, but you've obviously interviewed countless celebrities, dignitaries, and politicians. Who have been the best of that bunch, and the worst -- and why?
Obviously, my physically toughest interviews have been my several, violent encounters with racist skinheads, KKK and other hate mongers. I’ve always taken the role of defender of the underdog against those predators.
Given that you're likely to be on the list of influences for plenty of media members yourself, this question might be a little awkward, but who have been YOUR influences and inspirations in the media?
I have tremendous regard for folks like Dan Rather from an older generation and Lara Logan from today. Sean Hannity and I do not agree about nearly anything, but I love and admire the guy, who is one of my best friends. Richard Engle over at NBC News does a great job, as do commentators like Brit Hume and John King at CNN (my daughter Isabella is his producer).
After 50 years, it might seem like you've done everything there is to do, and maybe you have. But I'll ask it anyway: What's on the career and life bucket list(s) for the next 50 years? What's next for you?
I’ve sailed around the world and 1,400 miles up the Amazon. Now I want to single-handedly cruise my old motor boat from Cleveland to Chicago then down the Mississippi to New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa then I don’t know where. Professionally speaking, I would like to support and help moderate and repurpose the current social justice movement.
What about you has changed the most from the time you started your career to now?
I still have my mustache and my attitude. I’ve become much more considerate of opposing points of view. Example: My wife Erica and I are totally divided on the current political scene, but we’re learning tolerance from each other.
The Willowbrook story -- your uncovering for WABC-TV of gross mistreatment of children with intellectual disabilities at a Staten Island state hospital -- was a monumental moment in local television news, and it happened in the earliest stages of your career; it's still remembered by anyone who was around the New York area at the time. Why do you think the story had such an impact both locally and nationally, and why do you think it still resonates almost 50 years later?
Good question. When I walk down the street and see a family with a developmentally disabled child, I feel like we are family. That story was really a multi-year crusade, which has helped change the way society perceives the disabled. They are no longer kept in the shadows, but are helped to live as ‘normal’ a life as possible. That is my singular achievement, the role I played in that movement.
What do you think will be your legacy in the media -- Willowbrook, field reporting, hosting, advocacy journalism, the vault, all of the above, or something else?
All those noisy things for sure. I hope they don’t engrave on my tombstone that I opened Al Capone’s Vault or got my nose broken in the skinhead brawls. Style-wise and superficially I hope I’m remembered from bringing kinetic energy to news coverage. Instead of standing in front of a fire or earthquake or battle, I’ve always jumped into those situations with courage, verve and energy, bringing my friends, the audience, with me.
What has been the most important lesson learned over the course of your career?
Everybody has their own reality. Be kind and generous, tolerant and compassionate. Care about the people in your stories. Work for a better world without shunning those with whom you disagree. Be a cheerleader for America by preaching inclusion, being smart and open-minded. We’re all in this crazy world together. Better to pull together then to be pulled apart.
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