Jane Pauley
Jane Pauley
Margaret Jane Pauley, better known as Jane Pauley, is an American television anchor and journalist, and has been involved in news reporting since 1975. She is best known for her 13-year tenure on NBC's Today program, followed by 12 years as co-host of Dateline NBC, and for her public acknowledgements of her struggle with bipolar disorder...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNews Anchor
Date of Birth31 October 1950
CityIndianapolis, IN
CountryUnited States of America
I'm excited about going back to 'Today,' but, at odd moments, I'll grit my teeth in anxiety. I feel like a student before the start of school. I've got my new shoes and my book bag, but I'm not sure I'll remember how to do trigonometry. During my maternity leave, I haven't used many words of more than one syllable.
I think the success of a talk show depends on how true it is to the personality of the person hosting it. The shows I really admire, like 'Oprah' and 'Ellen,' are distinctively like their hosts, so I think my show will be successful only if we try to stay consistent to my own sense of myself.
You can't look at a sleeping cat and be tense.
In the beginning when I sat next to Tom Brokaw on the 'Today' show, the stories I was interested in were those having to do with women and children and learning and health. In those days, 25 to 30 years ago, that was called soft news, and not in a nice way.
'Your Life Calling' is the first thing in my long career I've ever actually invented. It is my entrepreneurial debut.
When I grew up, there were common patterns to people's lives. Now everybody is just making it up as they go along.
I think my children know that Mother's priority is to be with them first. But I don't think it has to be an either/or situation. Work is very important to me, and it wouldn't be in the best interest of my children for me to stay home seven days a week.
I would like to prove that on TV, everyday lives can be as compelling as the life-styles of the rich and famous. Especially lives that we catch at extraordinary moments.
I define success as when I say "yes" when I am given an opportunity.
I love working with an audience. I love working with actual people who, you know, if they're moved, you see it. If you say something they're stunned by, you see their jaws drop. If they're amused, they laugh - that kind of reinforcement, I totally adore.
Twins are a high-risk pregnancy, by definition. The quieter I am, the longer I can keep them growing.
My tides were fluctuating, too - back and forth, back and forth - sometimes so fast they seemed to be spinning. They call this 'rapid cycling.' It's a marvel that a person can appear to be standing still when the mood tides are sloshing back and forth, sometimes sweeping in both directions at once. They call that a 'mixed state.'
My guess is that people look at me and project their own values - importance of family, ego is healthy but not the biggest thing. I don't know. I can't explain my popularity.
I would not take for granted that my personal life - because I knew better than anybody - that it was just a life. It was surprisingly an ordinary life.