A Conversation with Kirk Montgomery

By: Jacob Elyachar

Denver’s KUSA-TV NBC 9 News’ Kirk Montgomery is the latest person to have “A Conversation” with Jake’s Take.

I had the pleasure of meeting the 9 News Entertainment Anchor when I worked as an intern for KUSA-TV during the summer I graduated from the University of Colorado.

Mr. Montgomery’s seven-minute E-Block informs and entertains 9 News viewers on the latest in all things pop culture.  In addition to “The E-Block”, Mr. Montgomery covered multiple breaking news stories.

Besides appearing on 9 News’ newscasts, Mr. Montgomery made cameos on television shows such as General Hospital, Days of Our Lives, the Event and ER, plus appeared on multiple theatrical productions including The Laramie Project, Stories on Stage and My Mama’s Monologues.

Mr. Montgomery took time out of his schedule to talk exclusively about on how he plans “The E-Block” and shared his thoughts on the paparazzi’s aggressive behavior and how the Internet changed the way celebrities are found.

Jacob Elyachar: When did you first become interested in being a reporter?

Kirk Montgomery:  I have always wanted to be a reporter since I was a kid.  One of my earliest memories is of a Christmas gift.  I got a huge Panasonic tape recorder! It had a little microphone on it and I remember running around interviewing my family members at Christmas.

JE: What drew you to report on the entertainment industry?

KM: It just happened! I give students and interns advice all the time.  You never want to start out in entertainment at all.  You have to be a journalist first!  Then, whatever your beat gets to be later…you can fine-tune your craft.   If you are not a journalist first, then you are not going to be any good at it.  The entertainment reporter positions are rarer than sports reporter position.   I always encourage people to be a journalist first, and then you can do anything.  Does that make sense?  (JE: That makes total sense!)

 I may be the Entertainment Anchor…but I was the first Denver TV reporter at the Waldo Canyon Fire last year, covered Occupy Denver for three Saturdays in a row downtown and covered the Aurora Shooting.   I worked three 14-hour days and never appeared on television.  It is just what you do as a journalist.  If you are fortunate enough and find that niche, then you are set, but if you cannot find that niche because it is so rare, then there is no problem in being a solid journalist because you can pick any topic.

JE: You produce the highly successful E-Block for the 4 p.m. and 9 p.m. newscasts for KUSA-TV.  How do your organize your segments for the E-Block?

KM: I pretty much do it all myself.  I write, shoot, produce, edit and create the graphics for my seven-minute portion of the newscast.  A lot of people have the misconception that I have “people” helping me.  (Laughs) I do not have people helping me, I do it all myself.    The social media world has forced us to become doctors in a sense because we have to be aware of what is going on 24-7.

Technically, I do not come into work until 1:00 or so in the afternoon.  I have an awareness of what’s going on and while I am driving to the station, I will be thinking about the newscast in the back of my mind.  When I arrive at work, I may have someone suggest something or see something new.   Then, I will stack the show.  I always try to do the most serious news pieces right off the bat and I pretty much have a free reign.    The segments could range from being goofy to reporting on a lot of high-profile deaths in the celebrity world.    I cover local theater, concerts and even ride roller coasters.  So I have a pretty broad range of pieces that I can get away with.   I am always thinking about the newscast and what I can do tomorrow.

I may have all the plans in the world, but if a wildfire pops up at 3:50 p.m., I may not make it onto TV at all because I am the first segment to be cut.   That has happened sometimes in the summer when the wildfires first appear or in the spring with the weather, I have worked my tail off and I am ready to go…. but BOOM! There is breaking news and it is all hands of deck.

JE: What are the factors that you consider when you select a story to be a part of your segment?

KM: I do not really have a checklist…but the story has to be current! It has to relevant to a broad range of people.  I have to remember my audiences at both 4:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m., which are slightly different.   There are edgier topics I could get away with 9:00 that I cannot get away with at 4:00 p.m., because of the hour that I am on.

I also have to find something that I can ad lib with News Anchors Mark Koebrich and Kim Christiansen.   Not many people know this, but we are the second longest-running anchor team behind Kyle Dyer and Gary Shapiro.   I have been at 9 News for 13 years!  Longer than both Mike Landess and Anne Trujillo (KMGH-TV ABC 7 News) and Karen Leigh and Jim Benemann (CBS 4), Mark, Kim and I are the second longest daytime anchor team in Denver.   Our on-air chemistry is so magical and we do not plan any of it.   So often, I have to think of something to do to get us talking.

 

JE: What are the challenges that you face during your newscasts and how do you overcome them?

KM: The biggest challenge is starting with the clock.  For the last six months, I have been assigned to do two newscasts.  I only was on at the 4 p.m. newscast and used to have seven hours to put together my seven-minute segment (and as you know being a former intern), it takes a long time to find topics, craft and polish them.   Now, I have to prepare for two newscasts. The moment I walk into the station, it feels like I am under the gun right away just to get it done.   

Another one of the challenges is also not only produce and create my own segments, but also keep up with social media!  I am constantly tweeting and on Facebook teasing newscasts.   If there is breaking news, an Amber Alert or a tornado warning, I tweet it or post it on Facebook.   I have thousands of followers on both of them and it is just another platform to inform the uninformed and that is what I do with social media.

A lot of viewers think that we sit back in barber chairs, get our hair done and have other staff members write our stuff.  This is a very hard job and the fact that we make it all flawless and easy on the air is a credit to what we do.  I often tell people who want to come and have a tour; it is kind of like watching sausage getting made.   You love how it tastes, but you really do not want to see how it is made.  (Laughs)  The same is with TV news.

JE: While we are on the subject of social media, how has social media changed the way you interact with viewers?

KM: Social media has provided not only instant interaction with our viewers, but also instant feedback from the viewers.   You can tweet somebody and interact with someone on Facebook, and they can give you either positive or negative feedback from your social media accounts.   Whereas on television, you have to wait for an e-mail or telephone call.

I have also gotten a number of great story ideas and breaking news alerts from viewers and followers.  Someone typed me on Facebook an asked: “Kirk! What is going on at Fifth and Penn?”  I typed: “I don’t know what’s going on at Fifth and Penn?”  “Well, I see smoke and flames!”  I replied: “Well, take a picture and post it because we are not aware of it!”  It is a great way to interact with them because the public can help us gather content and we can give it to them much quicker than before.

JE: As entertainment reporters, we have seen the Paparazzi become more aggressive with celebrities.  In your opinion, do you think the Paparazzi have crossed a line with their coverage?

KM: Absolutely!  This really started years ago with the death of Princess Diana.  You will never see Entertainment Tonight paparazzo harass somebody and neither will TMZ’s paparazzi.  But there is a huge misconception about the paparazzi.  All of them are independent contractors and they will get something that is high dollar and compete with each other.   If you get a photo that is so outrageous, you will get hundreds of thousands of dollars.    He then shops it to TMZ, Entertainment Tonight or Extra and then it becomes a bidding war.   That being said I think that it has gotten so out of control.

Everybody, I do not care what they do for a living, deserves privacy in a certain setting.   If a celebrity is shopping for groceries or sitting at a fast food restaurant, they are not working!  Now if they are on a red carpet or on a film set, then yes, that is when they should be photographed and asked questions.  But if they are just living their life and they are harassed by a very aggressive paparazzo, which is just horrible.  In fact, there are certain laws that are being considered in California and Hawaii to try to limit aggressive behavior.

JE: We have seen people like Justin Bieber, the Kardashians, the Situation and Snooki become household names through the Internet.  How has the Internet changed the way we cover the entertainment world?

KM: Everything is instant now and accessible.  Way back in the day, my parents would have to wait for People Magazine to hit the newsstands to learn anything about a celebrity.   The Internet has also changed the way that celebrities get discovered.   In the past decades, celebrities could control almost everything that was said through their publicists because there was not this instant access of the web or social media.

This is the instant information age and some people have taken advantage of it for their benefits like the Snookies and the people that want to be instantly famous for doing nothing at all!  But I believe, it has also intruded on what little privacy a celebrity has in their own personal lives.

 

JE: What have been some of your most memorable stories that you covered as an entertainment reporter?

KM: I get the opportunity to meet so many incredible people all the time.  I get to do things that people ordinarily would not do.  I have covered red carpet events, been on film sets and been in recording studios.  I got to meet actors, authors and dancers and it is just too tough for me to pick.  But, I do have a couple of favorite interviews; however, they are not necessarily the interviews people expect.

One of my favorite interviews was with actress Cathy Rigby.  She was touring with the Peter Pan cast in Denver eight years ago.  I met her and she was great and we did a fun skit on stage at the Buell Theatre.   Two weeks later, I received a handwritten note thanking me for my time and she signed it.  I thought it was the classiest thing because a lot of these old school celebrities know that and a lot of the young ones do not do this.

Another actor that I enjoyed interviewing was George Hamilton.  I had the chance to interview him when he was in Denver doing a show.    All of us in the media had 10 minutes to interview him in the Buell Theatre lobby.   He walked up to me, shook my hand and said: “Kirk, it is good to see you!”  I know that someone whispered my name in his ear, but it makes all the difference in the world than some of the younger celebrities who just do not get it!   It is the special moments like that makes turns an interview into a memorable highlight.

JE: If you had the opportunity to meet with aspiring reporters, what advice would you share with them?

KM: Adapt! Do not go into this expecting that you are meant to do one thing! You will completely limit yourself.  Like I said earlier in our conversation, reporters need to have a good solid base of journalism.  You are going to do yourself a huge disfavor, if you say, “I only want to do sports!” “I only want to do entertainment!” and “I only want to do political journalism!”  You have to be open enough to do it all and later on in your career, if you get the opportunity to fine-tune it…. do it!

But to do it, right out of the gate…DO NOT HAVE YOUR MIND MADE UP! Because there are going to be jobs out there that you have not even heard of.  Or, that it even has a name.   I speak from experience because when I first started out, I wanted to be a VJ on VH1! (laughs) So when I give out advice is because I learned it the hard way and I quickly realized that is not going to happen.    I was a Promotions Producer for years in a major market and it was not even on-camera and I loved that job, but when I left school, I did not even know that job existed or what it meant.   So do not limit yourself when you are first starting out!

You can connect with Mr. Montgomery on his Facebook, Twitter and his 9 News web page!