Embedded Files
A retired CNN 10 anchorwoman, Gwen Sommers, visited David T. Howard on Thursday, February 24, 2022. She was our black history guest speaker and gave fellow members of Journalism some advice. She took us through the journey, starting at her years at CNN, the height of her career, October 23, 1983. Her career started as she went live, even though they said she wasn’t experienced “enough”. “It happened once in a lifetime to break a story.” Sommers said as she began to show us a clip of when she reported the Beirut Barracks Bombing. Beirut Barracks was the first terrorist attack on Americans. She was petrified, recalls being nervous, caught off guard, and completely alone in the studio. She was the first African American woman to be an anchorwoman on TV; she was able to co-anchor with different anchors. She did an interview on Miles Davis, one of the most famous musicians at the time. She did the daily time where she lived as a print journalist. Southwest Georgia enterprise was one of her first jobs, she had it from when she was fourteen to sixteen years old. She changed her name from Barbara Ponder to Gwen Sommers, and then Redwine after she got married. Sommers interviewed Senator Herman Talmadg and produced an award winning documentary.
Questions that were asked:
What are some struggles you faced during your career? Not local Worked with many people. I was prepared and prepared for the people there. She knew how to speak clearly.
not being taken seriously because from the south what helped me through all of that is I was prepared. Increased discrimination. Philosophy changed over time. Producers made it very clear that she wasn’t treated equally.
“I was not being taken seriously.”
Solution:
She was prepared to do her job. Ms. Sommers-Redwine
“I was aggressive, passionate, ignatius.”
“Do your job and do it well.”
“Move on and Move up.”
Discrimination
-Woman- Gender
- Too young
- Racial Subtle
-unfair wages
- from south
Did you face any racism as a news anchor?
“Breaking the story I wasn’t supposed to.” Sommers said. Mark Dolmege wasn’t nice to Sommers, even weeks after she broke the story of the Beriut Bombing, while she was building up questions and stories. Sommers was never recognized for being the first Black woman, and actually women in general weren’t anchoring by themselves.
Who was the most influential person during your time as a news anchor?
David Brinkley
Random Facts:
October 23, 1983- Became an anchorwoman.
There weren’t many role models for Ms. Sommers Redwine during her time
Writing for radio is different than print, but basic writing skills remain the same
Print, Radio, TV - Print is the “nucleus of your career”
Used to practice short phrases and paragraphs in the mirror.
Worked for 3 shifts for over 4 hours.
Worked with more than 10 co-anchors
Covered a story on Miles Davis
Southwest Georgia enterprise- one of her first jobs (14-16 years old)
Valdosta Daily Times
She changed her name from Barbara Ponder to Gwen Sommers (then Redwine after she got married)
live from Beirut, Lebanon
Mrs Sommers was hired by Ted Turner’s company
Interviewed Senator Herman Talmadge
Produced an award winning documentary
Her perspective on journalism: “You will continue to develop. You will continue to grow. There was a route I took.”
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