Hartford Courant from Hartford, Connecticut • 148

1 elevision news is a mixtuxe of show biz and journalism; an odd, pressure-packed game in which the partici I mi iii'Min miir nil i ir 1 1 mil i rii'iB in" nn I r. r. nm i ,1,1 t-i inn 3 pants often discover they're an uneasy blend of reporter and celebrity. In TV news, your hairstyles may get as much attention as the story you're reporting. A stereotype of the local TV news anchor has grown of an attractive, but shallow person more concerned with appearance than substance, like the Ted Knight character oh the old Mary Tyler Moore show.

It's refreshing, therefore, to meet a local TV anchorwoman who belies that cliched image. Adrianne Baughns wants to inform, not amuse. Each weeknight at 6 and 11, on Channel 3's Eyewitness News, she delivers the news with a smooth professionalism and quiet authority. And, off the set, in the kitchen of her comfortable home in Bloomfield, she's warm and down to earth, laughing easily and speaking frankly about TV news and her role in it. Like many in the new generation of television newspeople, Adrianne Baughns did not come to the medi-, um with a background in journalism.

In fact, nothing in her background specifically prepared her for her present job. Born and raised in New York City, she joined the Air Force right out of high school and served as a pharmacy specialist. Following her military service, she married, moved to St. Louis, then to Albany, NY, where her husband was employed by General Electric. She bore a son.

That first marriage came apart. In the meantime, she started attending classes at the State University of New York at Albany in the field of speech and communication. After she struggled with getting up to speak before other students in speech classes, a friend advised her to attend acting auditions and get some experience speaking before strangers. Through those auditions, dents, because most of them are interested in the business and they just think it's the hottest thing in the world, to be in television hey, a little touch of Hollywood. They don't realize what the demands are." One of the demands is professionalism, even when a news story arouses a reporter's emotions.

Says -Baughns, "While I'm at work, I have to take an impersonal attitude about the fact that. Ella Grasso has liver cancer. Sure, it affects us, but our responsibility is to deliver the news, not to react and not to show that kind of emotion. That's a news story. For example, when those guys (Nazis and Klansmen) got off in Greensboro or those murders (of blacks) in Buffalo that sort of thing impacts on me as a black woman in this society.

Even if Walter Cronkite were sitting there, he'd have to say the news is affecting him. My responsibility, of course, is to make sure my attitudes are. not reflected. I don't have any quarrel with that. The feedback I've gotten from people who watch is that they appreciate the fact that I'm that way." i persistent criticism of televi- LM sion news is that it's superfi-JL JLcial.

It's criticism that Baughns finds valid, saying, "There's no way television news can really cover the news like a New York Times article can. There are many stories that are not told be- she was asked if she was interested in a TV job at a small station in Albany. The offer sounded interesting, so she took it, around the same time as another fledgling broadcaster, Dave Smith, who once again shares the set with her as Channel 3's sportscasterV In Albany, she gained experience as a writer, producer and on-air personality and was impressive enough in those roles to be offered a job at a station in Baltimore. She was about to accept the offer, when she stopped at Channel 3 for a conversation with the hews director. That conversation turned into a firm job offer that sounded even better than Baltimore's, so she grabbed it.

That was August of 1974, with one year of experience in television. 5 ince then, the visibility -of Adrianne Baughns has grown to the point where she is easily the most-watched woman in Connecticut, a fact over which she is decidedly uncomfortable. "I can't stand celebrity status," she grimaces. "I have never grown accustomed to it. It's very awkward.

I try everything when I'm going out I wear braids, glasses. I do wear disguises, but they pick up my voice 'right away. They say, 'Oh, I'd know that voice It's difficult on my son (now 11). He's very fortable. For instance, this morning, I had to go to school at 7:30 to see his teacher, so nobody would see me that kind of thing.

There's always that conflict between being yourself and being, the public Adrianne Baughns." "Oh, there are some plusses to it," she continues. "Say, when somebody gives you a hard time in a store about service or something like that. Then, when they see your name, it's 'Oh, oh, can I do something for you? But, that's very minor compared to the disadvantages, because I'm basically a private person." One of the realities of the broadcasting business for this 36-year-old private person is the accepted practice of taking a job, honing one's skills and then moving on to ever larger markets, presumably to become- the next Barbara Walters or Walter Cronkite. Adrianne Baughns, however, is not keen on the idea. "I like Connecticut," she asserts.

"My son likes it. My family likes it. I think we could grow and live here. I wouldn't-mind living here 'til I was 80, as long as I could see the rest of the world. I'm not interested in New York or Boston or Washington.

As much as I love New York it's my home I can't deal with the rat race. The money is always attractive, but it's the life style and the demands on you. It just isn't worth it for me. But people look at me like I'm crazy. It's interesting when I talk to stu.