Television news viewers know Renee
Phillips from watching her co-anchor the
evening and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts
on KRNV-TV Channel 4
But anyone involved in a lot of charity
work in Reno has probably met her in
person.
When she's not at the news desk,
Phillips is often at an event to raise
money to help others. She is involved in
about a dozen charities, ready to go the
extra mile for a deserving cause.
Make that 26.2 miles. In 1999, she ran
the Honolulu marathon in pouring rain to
raise money for arthritis treatment and
research.
Her nonprofit work earned her a nomination
for Northern Nevada Woman of
the Year, and her "Wednesday's Child"
features, in which she introduces foster
children on the air, won her an honor
from the Nevada Division of Child and
Family Services.
As a 14-year broadcast journalist,
Phillips has run across much hardship.
Some of the causes she chooses to support
touch her heart because of people she has
met in her reporting. Other efforts are
more personal, such as her work for the
American Cancer Society. Breast cancer
has hit her family hard, and Phillips keenly
feels the threat.
"She's just a great asset to the community,"
says Jessica Williams, corporate
events director for the American Heart
Association, one of the non-profits
Phillips assists. "She always gives her
time, and she just never stops. She never
says no to an opportunity to increase
awareness of the importance of
our health as women."
Williams, who praises the
entire News 4 team for its support,
says Phillips doesn't just
talk about health. She shows
how to live a healthy life.
Phillips runs, mountain
bikes and recently earned her
certification for scuba diving.
She also teaches spinning classes
- popular group workouts
on stationary bicycles at a
local health club.
Phillips says working for
charities is her way of giving
back to the community. She
also enjoys getting to know
viewers on a more personal
level. "I don't want to be a sterile
unfeeling kind of journalist."
She says she strives to be
true to herself, both on and off
camera. She is unafraid of
showing her human side, even
sharing news of her marriage
engagement on air.
Phillips didn't grow up
yearning
to be a
TV news
personality.
She
was an
athlete
and
wanted to be physical therapist
when she started college.
Why the switch?
"Calculus," she says with a
laugh.
Actually the broadcasting
idea came from a professor,
who noticed her public speaking
talent. Phillips says speaking
in front of the class felt
natural, and she enjoyed writing
and history, which dovetailed
nicely with journalism.
Once she decided to go for
broadcasting, she jumped at
every opportunity.
"I had
no social
life in
college,"
she says.
"I knew if
I decided
on broadcasting,
I had to go the whole
way."
Her family questioned
whether she was doing the
right thing because broadcasting
was so competitive. But
Phillips was determined, and
once they knew she'd be OK,
her family was solidly behind
her.
She landed her first professional
broadcasting job when
she was a junior at the State
University College in Buffalo,
N.Y., a midnight to 5 a.m.
radio gig. The job was two
hours away and paid five bucks
an hour, but to Phillips the
effort was worth the payoff in
experience. She also did a television
internship and continued
in radio as a news anchor and
disc jockey a couple of years
after college.
She then became the
youngest on-air TV anchor in
Buffalo, N.Y. After working at
WGRZ-TV there, she went to
Erie, Penn., Rochester, N.Y.,
and then to Reno.
Moving out west was an
adventure a little scary but
mostly exciting. Phillips counts
it as the best career decision
she has made.
The most rewarding parts
of broadcasting, Phillips says,
are reporting good news, such
as stories that honor outstanding
teachers, and making a difference
through such features
as Wednesday's Child. More
than a dozen of the children
featured in the segments have
been placed in permanent
homes for adoption.
The toughest challenges are
reporting tragedies and
remaining objective when hard
stories hit close to home. She
had close friends stationed
overseas during the war with
Iraq, for instance. "It's been
difficult reporting on an explosion,
not knowing where they
were."
Phillips says the keys to success
in any career are determination
and persistence. "With
those, you're capable of anything.
Don't let anyone talk you
out of what you want to do."
