North Bay Woman

F A L L 2 0 1 9 | NORTH BAY WOMAN 35 trading floor at Montgomery Securities but didn't find the work satisfying. She had taken journalism classes at UCLA and worked on the school's newspaper, the Daily Bruin, and she wanted to tell peo- ple's real-life stories, so she decided to seek work in television. She won a job in cable TV, producing and reporting in San Francisco, and when the channel's sister station in Marin County began "Marin Report," she started producing, writing and reporting local stories here. She also spent time at KFTY, Channel 50, in Santa Rosa and covered the Guerneville floods in 1997. "That gave me some performing expe- rience," she says. Next, she found out that KTVU, in Oakland's Jack London Square, needed a business reporter for "Mornings on 2." Her business background, TV experience and persistence helped her get a foot in the door. "I started at Channel 2 right before I had my first baby," says Cook, who is married with two daughters, one in high school and in college. The early news role turned out to be the perfect fit, though, "I was really tired for many, many years when they were little," she recalls. However, she got to experience school field trips, volunteer in classrooms and pick up her girls after school while hearing about their days, which gave her immense satis- faction. It also aided her career. "Becoming a mom made me become a better journalist and news anchor," she says, ex- plaining that it made her go from being sympathetic to empathetic. "You put yourself in that position. You imagine what a family is going through," she says, confessing to tearing up on-air occasionally. Sometimes people ask how she can cover a story about a family that has lost a home in a fire or someone in an accident. She responds that if by telling a story she gets someone to clear defen- sible space or have a designated driver, she might help save others from similar pain, and that makes it worthwhile. One of her most meaningful mo- ments was being in the newsroom when Proposition 8 passed allowing same-sex marriage, after being part of the philo- sophical debate leading to it. Her most grueling experience was Sept. 11, 2001. "One of the biggest impacts on my life as an on-air anchor was 9/11, because we were on the air when it was happening. Watching that unfold was so scary," she says. She spent one hour and 15 minutes in front of the cameras as United Airlines Flight 93 headed to San Francisco, and she thought about the threat to her Informing people, perhaps making them smile or cry, is the reason she got into the business. "It's an important job. I don't take it lightly." – Pam Cook

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