Kyra Phillips On Covering The Conventions And Her HLN Show: ‘News through the parent’s perspective’

By Alex Weprin 

Newly minted HLN anchor Kyra Phillips is nervous.

“I will be honest with you, I’m nervous,” she told me yesterday. “I’ve been at CNN for 14 years, and now I am coming over to HLN, and they have made me the point person for the conventions… I am unbelievably honored, and humbed and nervous!”

Phillips is no cable news rookie, but she says she still feels the pressure at her new home.

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“I feel like I am back in college where I am studying every night. I don’t want to fail my bosses, I don’t want to fail my coworkers I don’t want to fail my viewers, I really want to do a great job, and I want to focus on what our viewers really want,” she says.

She is starting things off with a bang, as the point person for HLN’s RNC and DNC coverage. As we have noted, HLN is taking a decidedly different tack in covering the conventions, focusing on the people behind the politics.

“I am excited about the fact that we are going to be talking about the delegates, we are going to be talking about the voters, we are going to be talking about the personal stories of the people that are there, instead of the politicians, and the speeches, and what’s happening at the podium,” Phillips says.

She is also preparing for life after the conventions, when her daily program will really be able to find its voice. Just as Nancy Grace, Jane Velez Mitchell and Dr. Drew all have distinct takes on the news, Phillips says she has her take ready as well.

“The program that we are working on is ‘news through the parent’s perspective,” Phillips says. “I have spent my whole career covering wars, going to the South Pole, doing investigative pieces, doing high-profile interviews with world leaders, and that has given me such great background and experience.

“Now I am a mom, I am a mom in my mid-40s, and my husband, and my kids and my family are so important to me. I am taking the two things that I love, my journalism background, combined with being a mom, and I am going to fold that into the new show,” she added.

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