Eye For The Tigers! Georgia vs. Auburn 2022
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LORAN SMITH<br />
Bulldogs<br />
of the 4 th Estate<br />
PHOTO VIA<br />
INSTAGRAM<br />
PHOTO VIA<br />
INSTAGRAM<br />
Amy Robach<br />
PHOTO VIA<br />
INSTAGRAM<br />
Bulldawg Illustrated continues its series, featuring long-time UGA personalities of the Fourth Estate. <strong>The</strong>re are many who are published authors along with<br />
network television superstars. Our fifth installment spotlights Grady alumna Amy Robach, who despite her TV fame remains grounded being a mother, while<br />
remaining one of the best in the business.<br />
Most mornings, even with an early rising routine, I, at some<br />
point, monitor the news and features of “Good Morning<br />
America,” mainly because of the sprightly contributions of<br />
Amy Robach, a distinguished University of <strong>Georgia</strong> graduate.<br />
Versatile and introspective, Amy began producing news for the Grady<br />
College of Journalism when she was a precocious student who sensed<br />
that the real-life studio out there was a far cry from the campus—except<br />
for one thing. One professor, actually.<br />
David Hazinski knew what it would be like for his students if they were<br />
fortunate to make it in the television world. It was cutthroat, it was dog<br />
eat dog and it was demanding and unrelenting.<br />
None of that fazed her. She enjoyed the hassle and the unforgiving<br />
atmosphere which hovered over her each day as she produced news<br />
stories which were far from a diet of pablum, even in a collegiate learning<br />
environment. Such as interviewing the father of a student who had come to<br />
her dorm to gather her belongings after the daughter had committed suicide.<br />
Her route to preeminence had her doing news in small markets<br />
followed by a stint at WTTG in Washington, D. C. No assignment was too<br />
meaningless for her, she was willing to get her hands dirty and before you<br />
knew it, she moved to MSNBC in 2003. She then became co-anchor of<br />
Weekend Today where she worked for five years before joining ABC News.<br />
Initially, she appeared on “Good Morning America,” as a correspondent<br />
and became the show’s news anchor in 2014. In 2018, Robach became<br />
the new co-anchor of ABC’s 20/20. She has an important role in the lives<br />
of millions of Americans and there is no reluctance to remind everybody<br />
she is a proud graduate of UGA.<br />
After bragging on <strong>Georgia</strong> winning the national championship<br />
following the defeat of Alabama in Indianapolis, a colleague remarked on<br />
air, “Thanks Amy for that objective report.” Whenever and wherever she<br />
can speak up for <strong>Georgia</strong> and the “Dawgs,” she has no reluctance. She’ll<br />
give you a broadside.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re has always been an unabated curiosity about those who climb<br />
the mountain, how they function and how they view life from an<br />
elevated station. It is always inspiring to interact with those who are the<br />
best at what they do.<br />
At schools of Journalism across the country, there are countless young<br />
women with the beauty of Aphrodite and the intellect of Athena. Many<br />
aspire for lofty network status, but few, however, are chosen. Amy is one<br />
who has made it big.<br />
You observe Amy’s smiling countenance on “Good Morning America,”<br />
and you see talent, poise and comportment that confirms she performs<br />
before the camera as effortlessly as a brick mason who has been at his<br />
craft for decades; a concert pianist who is flawless on the keyboard at<br />
Carnegie Hall; a pilot landing a jetliner for the 300th time at Heathrow.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a savory regard and seasoned respect for her on the air<br />
presence and compelling stories for the network. She is good at what<br />
she does, very good, but when her workday is done, she takes time<br />
to be a homemaker and a mother. In some ways, she is an everyday<br />
mom as much as anything. Her work is important. Her homemaking<br />
responsibilities are equally important.<br />
Born in Michigan, Amy spent her teenage years in Gwinnett County<br />
and was educated at the Henry Grady College of Journalism at the<br />
University of <strong>Georgia</strong>. It was in Athens that she came to appreciate the<br />
beauty of the campus, the fun Between the Hedges of Sanford Stadium<br />
on Saturday afternoon and the intellectual motivation of a journalism<br />
faculty which underscored a noteworthy blueprint for success—<br />
principally to use your brain for the ultimate achievement in life and roll<br />
up your sleeves and go to work expecting no free lunch.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is fervid praise for her alma mater in that while her<br />
undergraduate days were an over-the-top experience, she was also the<br />
beneficiary of “a phenomenal education.” She majored in broadcast<br />
journalism with a minor in political science. “I felt that I walked away<br />
(from campus) after those four wonderful years with what I needed to go<br />
out in the real world and succeed.<br />
“I can’t speak highly enough about the journalism school at the<br />
University of <strong>Georgia</strong> and how it exposed me to the ethics involved, how<br />
to manage media law, and all the things you need to know when you’re<br />
writing a story--and making sure you’re being objective as much as you<br />
can. I felt like I had street smarts to be successful when I walked into my<br />
first newsroom as the result of the education and experience, I got at the<br />
University of <strong>Georgia</strong>.”<br />
She is a cancer survivor who underwent a mammogram, as a favor<br />
to her colleague Robin Roberts, on national television. She discovered<br />
that she had cancer. Her amazing story has resulted in countless women<br />
becoming proactive by scheduling a mammogram, post haste. <strong>The</strong>y<br />
write her every day about her influence. Her story has made them reach<br />
out to their doctor for an appointment without delay.<br />
<strong>The</strong> result is that Amy is saving lives every day and simply says,<br />
“<strong>The</strong> reaction has been overwhelming.” With abundant humility and<br />
gratefulness, she is keenly aware that the most important life she saved<br />
was her own.<br />
BULLDAWGILLUSTRATED<br />
53 ISSUE EIGHT • AUBURN