NH Business: 'Once a reporter ...' Natalie Jacobson talks about her career post-Channel 5 and her new book

Apr. 1—VENICE, Fla.

N atalie Jacobson is still looking for her "next big thing."

For 35 years, Jacobson worked as a reporter and anchor for WCVB Channel 5 in Boston, most notably as co-anchor of NewsCenter 5 with her then-husband, Chet Curtis, whom New Englanders welcomed into their living rooms for two decades.

Jacobson covered the biggest stories of the day and won multiple Emmy awards for her work.

Along the way she became a mom, a grandmother and a licensed pilot.

Now she winters in Naples, Florida, and summers in Nantucket, which sounds like a dream for anyone staring down retirement.

But right now, Jacobson has a book to promote. During a February luncheon at the Plantation Golf and Country Club, the University of New Hampshire graduate was mixing with fellow Southwest Florida alumni who were gathered to listen to UNH Athletic Director Allison Rich and Head Football Coach Rick Santos.

Jacobson got a brief shout-out to promote "Every Life a Story: Natalie Jacobson Reporting," a book she released last year through Portsmouth's Peter E. Randall Publisher that recounts her reporting career and major events that took place during her long tenure in Boston, including the Blizzard of '78.

The book, which Jacobson says took her a couple of months to write, is more a collection of essays than a memoir, she said by phone from Naples last week. While writing it, she tried to consider what readers might want to know, just as she did when she spoke to viewers on TV every day.

"I'm just one of those people who's curious about just about everything in life," Jacobson said. "I love to get the answer to the question, 'why?' My mother said I drove her insane when I was a child."

The "why" — of the "who, what, when, where, why" budding journalists learn in school — is often absent from news stories today, Jacobson said.

"Even in some television news broadcasts they don't even tell you 'the where,' because they are afraid that if they tell you 'the where' you won't be interested."

Jacobson's thought process recalls those important follow-up questions news reporters ask on the fly to dig deeper into a story.

"Why did you pass that bill? Why do you think we should go in this direction? Why are you changing the rules on something? The answer is not just interesting, but the answer generally provokes or often provokes a better solution, a new idea," she said.

A woman in the news

When Jacobson first broke into broadcast journalism, she was the new idea in an industry that had been dominated by men.

She devotes a chapter in the book to addressing the role of gender in her career and strikes a balance between the feminism that took hold in the late '60s and conservative ideals of Phyllis Schlafly, who warned against its excesses.

Jacobson understands the need for balance because she lived it. While she devoted endless hours to her reporting career, she also wanted a family, a decision that in part led her to turn down opportunities to work for CNN and "60 Minutes."

Her father, who climbed the corporate ladder to become president of Gillette North American without a formal secondary education, discouraged her from going to college, believing a woman's role was at home. But Jacobson also valued that role and wanted to emulate her mother.

"I appreciated both the domestic and the professional. But I was of the generation that was on the cutting edge of trying to make that happen," Jacobson said. "I was eager for women to have opportunities, but I was also eager to be able to have a family."

Blizzard of '78

The blizzard of 1978 that hit central and southern New England killed a hundred people and injured 45 others. People were left stranded in their cars on the interstate.

But the terrible storm also brought out the best in people, Jacobson said.

"People poured down to 128 from the houses all along that 20-mile stretch to bring coffee and food and batteries and offer places to stay. That was one of the lovely things about being a local reporter — everything from telethons to a blizzard to any crisis — most people are good people. And they're kind people.

"Most people like to help other people. Unfortunately the news tends to focus on the abhorrent."

Next big thing

Jacobson ends her book talking about some of the projects she's worked on since leaving Channel 5 in 2007, including the two years she spent trying to develop a website that would offer guidance for late-career or post-retirement people who want to try a new profession.

She was able to secure funding but never found the right partner to manage the tech startup.

While she hasn't completely given up on the idea, she might be better suited to a role that allows her to exercise those reporting skills.

During our interview, we talked about the importance of New Hampshire's first-in-the-nation primary — now under threat of extinction — and a series of stories Jacobson once did for Channel 5 where she visited people in their homes in New Hampshire.

"It was fun to talk with you this morning," Jacobson said via email. "I got off the phone ready to head to NH to interview residents about their feelings on the primary.

"Once a reporter, always a reporter."

Mike Cote is senior editor for news and business. Contact him at mcote@unionleader.com or (603) 206-7724.

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