KMOX star Carol Daniel’s advice to young people who want to follow in her footsteps

Carol Daniel didn’t just become an accomplished news anchor and talk show host at KMOX overnight.

A combination of talent, dedication, strong values, hard work and support by people who believed in her helped Daniel along the way to the top.

She is admired and a role model for many.

So the BND asked Daniel, who retired last month, what advice do you have for young people who may want to follow in your footsteps?

Read about the world around you

”Please read, read, read,” she said. “Read everything and get informed. …Get an understanding of what’s going on in the world.“

Daniel said young people interested in broadcast journalism should deepen their knowledge about what’s going on in their community and their state. Who’s your governor? Who’s your congressman?

“ What’s going on in your school? There’s a school board meeting, and they are talking about your education and your teachers,” Daniel said. “You should be more informed about the things they’re discussing and determine what things matter to you. “

“...Does the cost of college matter to you, or the lack of police? Do issues with law enforcement matter to you? Does prison matter to you, prison rates, prison times? Does crime matter?

“ Figure out what matters to you and read about it. Become more informed, read more.”

Don’t spend so much time on social media

Daniel advises young people to spend less time on social media and more time with reputable news sources.

“ Get off of Facebook. Get off of Tik Tok,” she said. “Get off social media and actually open somebody’s site and read a news article by a reputable news organization.”

If you want to be a broadcaster, you can practice by reading things aloud because “your delivery matters,” she said.

Be curious, write it down and learn from the pros

Many professional broadcast journalists are accessible and would be glad to share insights, Daniel said.

“Don’t think you have to figure it out on your own,” she said. “ There are plenty of reporters and anchors who will talk to you. Don’t be shy.”

Daniel has been a writer since she was young. She advises young people to make writing part of their lives.

She used to write letters to her mother “because I was in trouble all the time. She told me she threw them away, but she would read them.

“ I was a writer early on. I wrote in my journal. Are you a writer, an investigative reporter? Do you want to be an anchor? You need to be curious about what’s going on, even in your own family…Write and read people,” Daniel said.

You don’t have to look a certain way to be ``worthy”

Young people should know they don’t have to look ``a certain way “ to make it in the broadcast world.

“I just think we have to be cognizant of the lies we’re being told. We’re being told we have to look a certain way,” Daniel said. “ You do not have to look that way. You just have to look the way you look - clean face, clean hair.”

She said people don’t have to look like a ``video vixen” or a reality TV star. “You just don’t,” she said.

“... It’s just commercialism, a way for them … to make money off our inability to be confident in who we are naturally,” Daniel said. “Start to build confidence in who you are and know you don’t have to mask it.”

Daniel is a confident woman, but she too had to work to build her confidence, suffering from the same kinds of self-image issues that others face over their appearance and worthiness.

“It’s really fresh for me because for many years I wasn’t (confident.) I thought I was not attractive. It’s so funny to look at myself now. When I was in my 20’s and 30’s, I was a size eight and I thought I was overweight,” she said, chuckling. “I needed to be taller. I had all of these sad perceptions about myself that just weren’t true. I just didn’t think I was enough.”

But she eventually realized, with the help of her supportive family and her faith, that she was fine, as long as she was healthy.

“The bottom line is you all are part of a tight human family and God loves you just the way you are,” she advises young people. “ Make sure you love you.”