For Gloria Campos, it's 'family first'
___Gloria Campos is co-anchor of News 8 at 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., the top-rated television news programs in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. She also is co-producer of Wednesday's Child on WFAA-TV. Campos began her broadcasting career in 1976 in the Texas Rio Grande Valley, and during her last six years at KGBT-TV in Harlingen, she was the market's top-rated co-anchor. She has received many awards, most recently the lifetime achievement award from the Dallas Press Club. She also received the 1997 achievement award from Women in Film and was ranked as one of the state's most influential Hispanic women in 1996 by Texas Hispanic magazine.
Q.
___ What was your home life like?
___I grew up in a fairly normal two-parent family. I have three siblings--two sisters and a brother all younger than me. Mom worked out of the home, and my Dad was a firefighter reaching the rank of assistant fire chief before retiring about 10 years ago. My parents are still alive and married.
Q.
___ What is your most vivid childhood memory?
___I remember the time my sister was born, and, of course, I have many happy memories of family vacations and time spent with my grandmother, my mom's mom.
Q.
___ Who was the most important person in your life as a child?
___Probably my grandmother. I loved her very much.
Q.
___ Are you a Christian?
___Yes. I was baptized Roman Catholic.
Q.
___How important is religious faith in your life?
___Very important. My faith has helped carry me through tough personal struggles. And, of course, it has helped me through these dark times that our country is going through. I put my trust, my life, in God's hands every day. I thank him when I awaken and when I lie down to sleep.
___
Q.
___ How has your faith changed your values?
___I don't know that my faith has changed my values, but it certainly has affected my values. I believe I have good values because of my upbringing, and that includes faith instruction. I see myself as a work in progress. God didn't make us perfect, but we should all strive to be more God-like in our lives.
Q.
___ Is it difficult to be a Christian in a medium where some people see Christians as a bad influence?
___I don't think being a Christian is viewed as a "bad influence" in my business. I once mentioned to one of my collegues that she was wearing a lovely cross, and she said, "Oh, I usually hide it because I don't want to offend anyone." But I wear my cross often and think in this country it is my right to wear that cross and worship as I choose. My boss is Jewish, and he's never said anything about my cross.
Q.
___ What are you trying to accomplish in your career as a television journalist?
___My main goal is to be fair, honest and accurate. I also try to focus on stories that hopefully will bring about better understanding among different cultures and to seek positive solutions to problems facing our families and society as a whole.
Q.
___ Where did you attend college and did you go there with the idea of preparing for a career in television journalism?
___I've wanted to be a TV journalist since I was in about third grade. I attended Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos and I have a bachelor of arts degree in journalism.
Q.
___ How has being a television journalist changed you as a person?
___My career has provided me with quite an education about many things, life, people, places and issues.
Q.
___ Do you feel you are a role model for other women, particularly Hispanic women?
___I not only feel that, I know I am a role model for women, especially Hispanic women, because many of them have told me that. It's a big responsibility I take very seriously.
Q.
___How do you balance the role of wife, mother and television journalist?
___It is a constant challenge. It has been much harder the last three years that I've become a regular on the 10 p.m. news. I try to visit the children at school; we have dinner together sometimes during the week, and I try to drastically curtail my outside interests so that my weekends are generally free for family activities. I feel very fortunate that I was able to be there for my children in their formative years. I am also very fortunate that my husband works part time, so my children are rarely without both parents at night. We also take family vacations in our motor home.
Q.
___Do you restrict the number of hours your children can watch television?
___Not really, because they don't watch much TV. But I don't restrict what they watch. They do not watch my newscasts.
Q.
___WFAA-TV is widely recognized for its strong news coverage, but it has broadened its scope with its Family First series and other emphases. Do you feel these new areas have compromised your position as a news leader?
___Not at all, I believe Family First has enhanced our position in the community.
Q.
___ WFAA-TV has been a stepping stone for others to get into network positions. Do you have a goal of becoming a network anchor?
___I had opportunities much earlier in my career to move on to the networks; that has never been my goal. Most network correspondents and anchors do a lot of traveling, but it's not conducive to family life, and my family has always come first. Besides, I think I can be more effective as a local journalist to impact my immediate neighborhood, my part of the world.
Q.
___What advice would you give to young people considering a career as a television journalist?
___You really have to work hard and put in a lot of long and bad shifts when you are the new kid on the block. Go to school. Get a well-rounded education and volunteer for assignments and come up with your own story ideas. Believe in yourself, be able to take constructive criticism, and have an open mind.
___Interview by Toby Druin
___Deep in the Heart of Texans is a periodic feature in which the Baptist Standard interviews a wide variety of prominent Texans about the role of faith in their life and work.
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