Personalities who have Changed Names

[mbhcity 3]

Check out this article......very interesting.

 

 

 

FROM: SHOPTALK, AUG. 22, 1996

------------------------------

PLAYING THE NAME GAME

 

Playing the Name Game; Newscasters with Anglo-sounding last

names are switching to ethnic handles. It gets them work--

but some ask if it's ethical.

 

By Scott Collins

The Los Angeles Times

 

The anchorman formerly known as David Johnston was stuck in a dead-end

job.

 

For six years, Johnston had served as evening anchor at two small TV

affiliates in Midland/Odessa and El Paso, Texas. He wanted a shot at a

bigger market or a network, but his audition tape never seemed to

interest recruiters.

 

But when Johnston took a job three years ago at KOVR-TV in Sacramento,

his career prospects changed dramatically. So did his name.

 

Re-christened on-air as David Ono, the 33-year-old broadcaster has

fielded job offers from stations in Los Angeles and Seattle and

finally has the networks' attention, thanks largely to his new,

ethnic name.

 

"I changed it to my advantage," says Johnston, who still uses his

original surname for legal purposes. "I've received a lot of interest.

I think the name change could have set that off, in addition to

seasoning and just getting better."

 

Johnston is just one of many broadcasters playing the ethnic name

game. Taking advantage of federal affirmative-action rules designed to

benefit minorities, a number of reporters and anchors with Anglo-

sounding last names have switched to Latino and Asian handles. The

trend has led to growing outrage among some news professionals and

minority activists, who argue that it cheapens the concept of

affirmative action and raises troubling issues of journalistic ethics.

 

Many reporters who have changed their names claim biracial status and

explain that they are just borrowing a relative's last name to

accentuate their minority roots--a reversal of the age-old immigrant

practice of anglicizing a foreign last name to speed assimilation in

the United States.

 

Johnston, for instance, says he is of Asian and white descent, and

that Ono is his Japanese mother's maiden name. "It's simple, reflects

ethnicity and is very easy to remember," he says.

 

Reporter Gordon Gary reached back two generations for his new name. On

the air at KNBC-TV Channel 4 in Los Angeles, he uses the surname

Tokumatsu, which he says was the maiden name of his grandmother, a

descendant of Japanese samurai. He switched names shortly after

starting his career at KESQ-TV in Palm Springs, he says.

 

When he considered the change, his family "began telling me about the

samurai heritage, which I had so embraced," says Gary, whose friends

still know him by that name.

 

Others are less forthcoming. Denise Valdez, the 6 o'clock anchor at

ABC affiliate KSAT-TV in San Antonio, admits that she changed her last

name for professional reasons, but says that she considers herself

part Latina and declines to discuss the matter further. "I'm not

comfortable talking about it," she says. "I'm sure I'm one of many

people who have done so. It is advantageous in this business, but it's

not something I want to broadcast to the public."

 

Indeed, the public often never realizes that a TV personality may not

be quite who he or she appears to be. No one knows how many

journalists nationwide have switched to an ethnic pseudonym, but there

are at least a dozen confirmed examples in Los Angeles, Chicago and

other markets.

 

Many say that the phenomenon has existed for years. Geraldo Rivera,

who was born to a Puerto Rican father and white Jewish mother, has

battled persistent claims that his real name is Gerry Rivers. (In a

1989 Times interview, Rivera vigorously denied the rumors, saying, "My

detractors think it's wonderful because they can say: 'Aha! That's the

reason he's gone so far. . . . He rode the minority thing!' ")

 

But reporters and other industry insiders say that more TV journalists

these days are changing their names. The reason: an opportunity to

boost their career by taking advantage of affirmative action rules or

of the desire on the part of many station managers to diversify their

work force and better cover the growing population of Asian and Latino

immigrants.

 

While the practice elicits a shrug from some journalists, who liken it

to an actor taking a stage name, name-changing is drawing fire from

others in the industry. Critics claim that such a switch undermines

the credibility of TV reporters and the concept of affirmative action.

It also raises the question of whether minority status is simply a

matter of one's last name or goes deeper to encompass one's awareness

of ethnic issues and commitment to the community.

 

Henry Mendoza, a member of the Chicano News Media Assn. and a former

news director at KBAK-TV in Bakersfield, has been a vocal critic of

name-changing. He blames both reporters and broadcast executives "who

play affirmative action as a numbers game. . . . There's what I

consider unscrupulous intent on both sides."

 

The subject remains a sensitive one: A veteran Latino broadcaster in

Los Angeles says he has known about name-changing for years but

declines to speak about it on the record because the subject is

"depressing."

 

Meanwhile, young white reporters privately admit that they have been

pressured by agents and news directors to use ethnic surnames to

improve their marketability. Several TV journalists contacted for

this story insisted that white reporters with scant claims to minority

status have helped their careers along by switching to bogus Latino

names. But the proof for such charges proved elusive.

 

"There are obvious benefits to being labeled Hispanic," says Bill

Slatter, a broadcast talent scout in Natchez, Miss. "Hispanic

reporters and anchors are a scarce commodity."

 

The situation has led to hard feelings among minority and white

broadcasters who believe that colleagues are using ethnic names to

gain an unfair advantage in a fiercely competitive job market.

 

"I don't want to sound like an angry white male," says Chris

Williamson, a reporter at KTVL-TV in Medford, Ore., "but it can't help

sticking in your craw when you see agents and news directors falling

all over themselves to hire" reporters who have adopted ethnic last

names.

 

Williamson believes name-changing is "almost like {a journalist}

staging a story. . . . We all know TV can be a very shallow business

at times. There are lots of people who have done this for surface

reasons and not substantial reasons."

 

Industry observers say ethnic name-changing is an unintended result of

government regulation. The Federal Communications Commission, which

licenses U.S. radio and TV stations, has since 1969 mandated

affirmative-action rules based on regional demographics, according to

FCC General Counsel William Kennard.

 

The agency requires each station to fill out a form describing its

efforts to recruit minorities and women. Management must hire a

proportion of each minority equal to at least half of the proportion

of that minority in the regional work force. For example, if the work

force at large is 20% Latino, the station must have a staff that is at

least 10% Latino. (The FCC waives the requirement if a minority

represents 5% or less of the regional labor pool.)

 

If a station is found to violate the rules, the FCC can impose a fine.

In extreme cases, the agency can also refuse to renew the station's

license. The threat of these and other sanctions can make stations

vulnerable to pressure from activist groups.

 

Last year, Asian American groups protested what they viewed as the

demotion of anchor Tritia Toyota at KCBS-TV Channel 2. And the

California Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights

held hearings in 1994 on perceived anti-minority bias in TV newsrooms,

especially at KCBS and KNBC.

 

But in practice, Kennard notes, stations are rarely penalized by the

FCC for breaking affirmative-action rules. Nor does the agency

generally demand proof of workers' minority status.

 

"In most cases, we rely on the good faith of the licensee," Kennard

says. "We're not aware that {ethnic name-changing}is a widespread

problem. You have to be careful in second-guessing someone's claim to

minority status."

 

The phenomenon does not seem as prevalent in print journalism, where

minority hiring practices are not specifically mandated by a federal

agency, nor does it arise often in other industries, according to

government officials.

 

Name-changing for career advantage "is not an issue that's come up

that I'm aware of," says a spokesman for the Equal Employment

Opportunity Commission, which enforces federal antidiscrimination

laws in the workplace.

 

To satisfy FCC rules as well as activists' demands, news directors who

hire on-air talent seek out applicants with evident minority

credentials. But because of the legal minefield surrounding

affirmative action issues, few news executives make any determined

effort to verify candidates' ethnic backgrounds, sources agree.

 

"There's a certain amount of 'Don't ask, don't tell' that goes on"

surrounding ethnic name changes, says Don Fitzpatrick, a leading San

Francisco-based headhunter for the TV news industry.

 

Indeed, misinformation about affirmative-action and antidiscrimination

issues is common. Several industry executives confidently indicated

that employers are barred by law from asking applicants about

ethnicity.

 

"A lot of laws restrict us from asking specific questions about a

candidate's background," says Bill Lord, news director at KNBC, who

reiterated his station's commitment to diversity. "In most cases, it

would seem to me that a person's ethnic background is fairly obvious."

 

In fact, the FCC's Kennard says, such questions are lawful as long

as the information is not used as a basis for hiring decisions.

 

But while a person's ethnic background may be "fairly obvious," that

has not prevented some broadcast journalists from trying to make their

ethnicity a little more obvious.

 

Jim Simon left KNBC last January to take a job in the Chicago bureau

of NBC News. He changed his on-air last name more than 20 years ago to

Avila because, he says, he was named after his father, a former

broadcast executive, and the broadcast union does not allow two

members to share the same name. He identifies himself as a Mexican

American and says Avila was his mother's maiden name.

 

Simon, 40, acknowledges industry tension over the ethnic name issue.

"At what point are you a minority or not a minority?" he says.

"Federal guidelines say I am a minority. I was born on Downey Road in

East L.A." When asked whether he thinks using an ethnic last name has

helped his career, he replies, "I don't think it's hurt any."

 

At the same time, though, he doesn't want to be pigeonholed as "a

minority reporter." "I want to someday cover the White House," says

Simon. "I don't want to have to go to the 'taco beat.' "

 

Yet other journalists have changed their names at least partly to

gain credibility in minority communities they cover. At KTVL in

Medford, Cathy Warren was assigned to cover stories affecting the

Latino community.

 

"There are not many Hispanics in Medford, but there were some, and no

reporters could get through to them to do interviews," Warren says.

So, at a news director's suggestion, she borrowed her mother's maiden

name and began using the hyphenated "Warren-Garcia." Later she dropped

the original surname completely and became known on-air as Cathy

Garcia.

 

She agrees with Simon and others that name-switching can be a career

asset.

 

"I think it helps in the very first stage of a job search, getting a

news director to see your {audition}tape," says Warren, now a reporter

at CBS affiliate KDBC-TV in El Paso.

 

Gary Gabriel, a reporter at KABC-TV Channel 7 in Los Angeles, says he

was aware that some colleagues had attacked him for switching to a

Latino last name. But his situation is unique, he says.

 

"I took my mother's maiden name when I was in high school" due to

private family problems, Gabriel says. "And this rumor has cropped up

ever since then that I changed it when I got into the business. But I

changed it years before I got into the business.

 

"It's a very sore, sensitive subject with me," he says. "You have a

lot of people in this business, maybe this town, who change {their

names} for cosmetic reasons, because it's hard to pronounce,

whatever. But I wasn't in that category."

 

Cheryl Fair, news director at KABC-TV, declined to comment on

Gabriel's situation or in general about the subject of name-changing.

 

Mendoza, of the Chicano News Media Assn., says that news directors

could discourage facile name-changing by asking tough questions that

would separate legitimate minority reporters from mere climbers: Are

you bilingual? Do you consider yourself at ease in both Anglo and

Latino cultures? "They should at least try to verify," Mendoza argues,

that reporters have some connection to the community from which they

supposedly hail.

 

But news directors, who usually encourage reporters to chase down

every lead in pursuit of a story, often shy away from thoroughly

investigating the subject of minority hiring. Many say they are

content to take a job applicant's name at face value. "I'm not going

to ask someone whether they're bicultural or bilingual," KNBC's Lord

says. "Such issues are very difficult for me to assess. Is one

Hispanic employee more qualified than another because they're

bilingual?"

 

But without a system of checks and balances, clever job applicants who

know the ins and outs of minority hiring can profit greatly. Just ask

David Johnston, a.k.a. Ono. Since the name switch, his career has been

on an unmistakable upswing, with offers from at least two networks and

stations in Los Angeles and elsewhere. "I gladly would have taken

{those jobs}," he says, but his contract in Sacramento runs through

July 1997.

 

"I don't regret changing my name," says Johnston, whose resume reads

"David Ono Johnston." Prospective employers take it in stride, he

says. "They don't really say anything about it. . . . To them, it's no

big deal."

[WAVY 10 Fan 233]

In fact, I think it would be better for minorities also if affirmative action were axed, as companies found not to hire minorities and women would have a backlash and/or boycott against them.

 

I'm with you on that.

[Guest inncd]

There are a few in Indiana....

 

WTHR "NBC 13" Indianapolis: Kris Kirschner used to be Kris Schuabch before she got married in 2003.

 

and

 

WANE-TV Fort Wayne: Joe Gregory, after heading to WEWS, he is now known as Jor Pulaski.

[NowSTLexNY 1]

E.D. Hill used to be known as Edith Tarbox at WHDH.

 

Also, appearently, her children are Wikipedia vandals. Acoording to Wikipedia.

 

and wasnt she Edie Tarbox on WABC many years ago. I also remember a former WCBS anchor was asked to use her maiden name to appel more to latino viewers. Officially, she was embracing her latino heritage.

[mbhcity 3]

E.D. Hill used to be known as Edith Tarbox at WHDH.

 

Also, appearently, her children are Wikipedia vandals. Acoording to Wikipedia.

 

and wasnt she Edie Tarbox on WABC many years ago. I also remember a former WCBS anchor was asked to use her maiden name to appel more to latino viewers. Officially, she was embracing her latino heritage.

 

Tarbox is such a tacky name...i mean it's a tar box.....sounds like a mans last name.

[ABC11EWN 0]

Name changing on the bases of getting higer chances of landing a job is a very interesting subject. I have a few friends here at my University who are going to graduate and go into the biz as news reporters. While I will not change my name, some of my friends have said they might, purely because of their names being difficult to pronounce, or not appealing on-air. It's all quite interesting.

[Guest inncd]

There are a few in Indiana....

 

WTHR "NBC 13" Indianapolis: Kris Kirschner used to be Kris Schuabch before she got married in 2003.

 

and

 

WANE-TV Fort Wayne: Joe Gregory, after heading to WEWS, he is now known as Jor Pulaski.

 

Also forgot someone else:

 

Former WPTA Meterologist Brent Trantum is now known as Brent Cameron after arriving at WSVN Miami then to WTHR, and back to WSVN.

[wnnnbc 0]

I'm pretty sure Gordon Tokamatsu was already Gordon Tokamatsu

when he was at KCRA in Sacramento, before he went to KNBC.

[NewsReporter25 0]

Tarbox is such a tacky name...i mean it's a tar box.....sounds like a mans last name.

 

...not to knit-pick...but Tarbox probably was her dad's last name, so technically it was or still is a man's last name. aside from that, how does a 'last' name sound more manly than others? ok, john...bruce...steven...mans name, but tarbox...whats manly about that? just curious, i'm a reporter, i ask questions...