Washington, D.C. Fox-owned station WTTG is breaking the usual boundaries between its viewers and its journalists with its new podcast.
“Viewers see us every day but they don’t get to know us personally,” anchor Shawn Yancy told Broadcasting & Cable. “I think it’s important for people to see that we are human, and live life, and have the experiences that they have.”
When she was on the show, called I Still Have a Keycard, Yancy revealed she had an unplanned pregnancy while still in college. In another episode, anchor Holly Morris told the story of her divorce from former station meteorologist Tom Sater who was fooling around with Morris’ morning co-anchor Gurvir Dhindsa.
We’ve written about I Still Have a Keycard a couple of times here on TVSpy. Recently, anchor Tony Perkins gave viewers the inside story about his time at Good Morning America. Perkins gave surprising details about what it was like to work there and what happened when he lost the support of Dianne Sawyer.
B&C reports Fox quotes Podomatic in saying it normally ranks No. 3 in the news and politics category. GM Patrick Paolini says it’s building its audience. The first eight episodes have been streamed more than 100,000 times.
But podcast host Sarah Fraser says some are skeptical about the new format, saying it may be too personal.
“I think there is still some debate in the newsroom over whether we are opening up ourselves to criticism or feedback or going places we shouldn’t go as journalists,” said Fraser.