Out, But Not Down

Out, But Not Down
After Leaving the Early Show, It's Onward and
Upward for CBS Newswoman Jane Clayson

By Catherine Martines

Jane Clayson describes her life in recent years as a fast moving river. Three years ago, she was plucked from relative obscurity and thrown into the national limelight to co-host the CBS Early Show with Bryant Gumbel.

Clayson landed one of the most coveted spots in television news after a three-year-stint as a network correspondent, and just six years in local television. But in the fast-paced cut-throat world of network news, fates can change quickly. In yet another attempt to improve ratings at the perennially third-rated morning show, CBS News executives recently replaced Clayson with a four-anchor team. Clayson has been reassigned within the network to do reports for the CBS Evening News. She'll also appear as a substitute anchor and contributor to 48 Hours Investigates, the network's respected primetime magazine show.

But the 35-year-old Sacramento native said leaving the high-profile morning show wasn't difficult. "I feel like I accomplished everything I set out to do," Clayson said, “from honing my interview skills, to trying to have fun throughout the segments. I wouldn't change a minute of it. It was a growing experience both personally and professionally. Now I'm moving on and up."

For the past three years, a personal driver picked Jane up each day for work at the CBS studios in Manhattan. Another perk of the job was a team of professional hair and makeup artists each morning. During the course of the three-year job, she interviewed everyone from powerful world leaders to princesses and Hollywood celebrities. That would be pretty heady stuff for a young, single woman barely in her thirties. But not for Clayson. She took the job knowing that she could move away at any time and be happy, so long as she had her moral character and integrity intact. Besides, it was never her dream job. “I never dreamed of this. I never set out to get this. It just happened," she said.

Local News

Clayson's fascination with news began in junior high school when a teacher asked the class to read TIME magazine from cover to cover each week. "I did it and loved it," Clayson explained. "I loved the idea of covering stories and explaining and educating people to the news."

While still a communications major at Brigham Young University in Provo, Ut., Clayson was hired as a reporter at KSL-TV in Salt Lake City. Long-time KSL anchor and reporter Carole Mikita said it's very unusual for a station to hire someone that young. "But she already had a true knowledge of how to find stories, research, write and produce them," Mikita said. "All of us at the station at the time remarked how quickly it all came together for Jane. She had the sophistication, the brains, the look, all at once." And perhaps most
importantly in a fiercely competitive industry, Mikita said Clayson was a hard worker and a quick study. "She had the right attitude," Mikita said. "She wanted to learn; wanted to be critiqued; always wanted to improve."

And Mikita said while some people are in the business for the perceived glamour or prestige, Clayson was always focused on the excitement of learning and sharing that with others. She said Clayson also had an obvious love of history, which Mikita said is essential for good reporting. "I am not at all surprised at how far she's gone in the business," Mikita said.

Network News

Seven years and numerous awards later, Clayson caught the attention of ABC News executives in Los Angeles. She was hired as a network correspondent and spent the next two years of her life traveling around the world chasing breaking news. One of her producers at the time was Tom Cibrowski, who later followed her to the CBS Early Show. Among the many stories they covered together, was the war in the Balkans.

"I'll always remember her reporting on the refugee crisis," Cibrowski recalled. "People in those refugee camps would flock to her because she has a sweetness about her and a caring way that could make people smile.

"This is a cut-throat business filled with aggressive people," Cibrowski said. "But Jane was able to get where she is in a very unique way." He said she is not the type to steam roll over people to get there. "She is professional, thoughtful and caring even as she moves through the ranks."

Cibrowski described Clayson's transition to big-time network anchor as seamless. "Working on a network morning show is not an easy task," Cibrowski said. "It is very grueling, but Jane was extraordinarily quick at learning the morning routine and she immediately developed an ability to handle anything that was thrown her way, from an interview with the President or First Lady to cooking with Martha Stewart."

For the three years Clayson co-anchored the Early Show, total viewership increased each season, according to a CBS press release on their web site. Still, it wasn't enough to keep the Gumbel-Clayson team on the air. Gumbel left the show in May 2002. Jane's last day was Sept. 27, 2002. The network has revamped the show to include a four-anchor team of Harry Smith, Hannah Storm, Julie Chen and Rene Syler.

Jane Joins 'Exclusive Club'

But don't cry for Jane Clayson. She's not. "The hours were killers," she said, "and it was a rigorous routine." Still, having said that, she wouldn't change a thing. "I had a wonderful time, and now I'm moving on to bigger and better things. I'm moving into prime time on a good, respectable broadcast."

Clayson said she feels like her years on the Early Show have given her membership to an exclusive club. CBS morning show alumni include, Dianne Sawyer, Meredith Viera, Leslie Stahl and Paula Zahn. When the show debuted in 1957, Walter Cronkite was in the anchor seat. Mike Wallace and Charles Kuralt have worked on the show. Clearly, Clayson is in good company. But, some former Early Show anchors have chosen to leave the national spotlight altogether and return to local news. Clayson's immediate predecessor, Jane Robelot left to anchor in Atlanta.

Clayson's good friend, Carole Mikita, from KSL-TV said she thinks it's much too soon for Jane to think of returning to local news. "She's just getting a strong foothold with the network," Mikita said. "Jane is a wonderful reporter and I think this new assignment will give her an avenue for storytelling. She'll certainly have more viewers."

CBS producer Tom Cibrowski isn't worried about Jane's career prospects. "Because Jane can handle whatever she is tasked with, she will be a star at anything she decides to."

Clayson said her new job not only returns her to a regular sleeping pattern, it also gives her a much sought-after commodity in television news: time. Her Eye On America segments for the CBS Evening News and her reports on 48 Hours will both be longer than the usual 2-3 minutes story length. "It's a journalists dream to have 10-12 minutes or sometimes even an hour to do a piece on 48 Hours." When we spoke, she was working on a story about unresolved kidnappings and was planning a trip to Salt Lake City to interview the family of missing Elizabeth Smart.

She said her new job doesn't entail "all that much travel" and she is looking forward to doing new things at the network.

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Personal Side

Clayson is clearly a professional who wants to talk mainly about her career and not her personal life. But there are two things she is very open about and shares freely: her family and her faith.

Faith

Jane grew up and is today an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I don't know where I would be without my faith and dedication to my beliefs," Clayson said. Clayson serves as the Gospel Doctrine Teacher in the Manhattan Second Ward in New York City. She said this is her fourth time in that calling. But she doesn't mind it, because she said she loves to study the scriptures.

One of her favorites is from the Old Testament, Micah 6:8. "He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?"

Growing up, she was the oldest of three children. Her father is a Harvard- trained cardiovascular surgeon. Her mother nurtured the children with lots of books and music in the home. When Jane was just six years old, her mother introduced her to the violin. Jane took to it quickly and with great skill. She played with the Sacramento Youth Symphony and went on to win a music scholarship to BYU. "It was a love of mine and still is," Clayson said.

As a young person, she envisioned she might be a music teacher one day. Today, she jokes that she only plays the violin at church, weddings and funerals. But she said her first dream, was always to be a wife and a mother.

Jane was married once, but is now divorced. She chooses not to discuss that part of her life publicly. Nor will she talk about life as a young, single LDS woman, other than to quip, "Do you know any good single men you can set me up with?"

Clayson makes it clear, that while she is very happy with her successful career and the unique opportunities it has given her, it is not something she ever set out to attain. "I had very different ideas for my life," Clayson said. "I never dreamed of this. I never set out to nab a job that other people might kill for."

Jane said she doesn't know why she's in the high-profile position she's in, but she always tries to do her best and to act with integrity. She said her faith is sometimes an issue with people. "I have met people in high positions who have never met a Mormon before," Clayson, "and they are curious about who we are and what we represent." She said she tries simply to keep her standards and represent herself and her heritage well.

Family

Clayson is not the only rising star in her family. She will proudly tell you about her younger sister, 28-year old Hannah Clayson Smith, who will soon be serving a prestigious clerkship with the United States Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. She'll also tell you about her younger brother, David, who died at age 11 of a brain tumor. Clayson was about to go away for college at the time. All three children grew up playing the violin and performing together. They were very close and Clayson considered postponing college to be with her brother.

Eventually, she did leave for school, but made frequent trips home. Clayson's mother said life took on a new perspective with David's death. "We all learned how fragile and irreplaceable every moment is."

Mikita said whenever Clayson does stories about children she brings a special touch to them. "I remember she did a story once about a boy dying of cancer," Mikita said. "It was heart-wrenching. But she brought to the story a human element that made her reporting so effective. She's not afraid to be human."

Personal Time

Clayson said in her spare time she enjoys reading, cooking and doing crafts. When she lived in Salt Lake City she even had a booth at the popular craft store The Quilted Bear. She sold dried flower arrangements, flower baskets and wreaths. She said she had a great time as a guest on the Rosie O'Donnel Show doing Rosie's craft segments. Despite her appearance, Clayson said she's no workout queen. "I try to hit the gym a couple of times a week, but I find that just living in New York is a workout in itself."

A 'True Friend'

She must spend time keeping in touch with friends, because Mikita said Clayson is one of the truest friends a person could have. "When some people leave here [KSL], they don't look back," Mikita said. “But Jane has kept in touch with any number of us. She doesn't think of herself as a star. She has a job to do. I know she is a woman of great faith who certainly has had her trials in life and knows how to overcome."

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