WCBS-TV personality Kristine Johnson (net worth 4 million US dollars) currently fulfills the role of co-anchor of the 5 and 11 pm news at CBS 2 (joined 2006) in New York. She is an award-winning journalist who is equally at helm both behind the anchor desk and reporting from the field. She has covered many big stories including the devastation of super storm Sandy, the tragedy of San Diego Elementary and the Boston Marathon bombings.
Prior to joining CBS2 news, she was associated with MSNBC as an anchor. She has also anchored for NBC’s early Today and weekend Today show.
If you didn’t know, she worked for WPRI-TV in Providence for a decade before coming to New York.
A proud mother of two children and award-winning journalist, Kristine was born on June 15, 1972, in Angeles, Pampanga, Philippines to a Filipino mother and Swedish American father. Kristine is someone who has achieved success in her life starting from the below. It was her dedication, hard-work, sense of responsibility, maturity, and nevertheless natural beauty and down-to-earth personality that led her to position where she is now.
However, she was not sure what she wanted to do in her life when she got enrolled at University of Nebraska in Lincoln under General Studies program. She joined the university with a firm hope of finding her study interest in recent future.
Luckily, she realized that she should be an on-screen personality during her freshmen year.
It was her second semester and she was in her dorm room taking a media class with a TV on in the background. She was normally studying in the class when she got amazed by what she saw and heard on the TV.
She hears the sound “TAN TAN TAN”. She identifies the sound as the special opening to a special report on CBS news. She sees Dan Rather of the CBS new on the TV announcing the operation shield turning to operation desert.
Mesmerized by the whole controversy and action of the news, Kristine then gets hit by the bug of joining the broadcast journalism industry. Suddenly, she realizes that this is what she will do for rest of her life.
Bachelor of Arts graduate from the University of Nebraska with major in journalism and minors in political science, history and English, Kristine post graduation decision was not only influenced by her on-screen interest but also by her boyfriend’s resident.
Boyfriend from her university, Steve Johnson was then residing in Rhode Island, a city in Providence.
It’s obviously hard for anyone to tradeoff between love life and career. So, Kristine decided to balance both by searching a job in the Rhode Island related to journalism.
In the process of searching job, she sees the wanted section of the Providence Journal. There she finds a part time assignment editor job vacancy at WPRI-TV. She decides to apply for it although this is not what she wanted to be. Her previous internship experience as the assignment editor and the recommendation from the firm helps her to land the job.
Her official career started from WPRI. She worked at WPRI for 10 years. While at WPRI, she fulfilled many jobs including writer, associate producer, producer (grabbed two Emmy nomination for producing “Brendan’s Story” and “Newsmakers”), reporter, and anchor.
Yes, you heard it right. I said anchor, the job Kristine wanted always. But, the success didn’t come overnight for her. It took her a long time to reach the position.
Kristine understands that the time she spent at WPRI in every position is worth a lot. Because of vast range of experience, she is now a better reporter and anchor who understand every ins and outs of a newsroom.
An interesting Wiki, assignment editor Kristine would remind her WPRI superiors every now and then, and show them that she is progressing. From spending extra hours on the field and requesting reporters for the raw footages to asking cameramen to capture her stand-up, she did it all. She also bribed reporters and cameramen buying them coffee and gifting other perks. She would drop in her tapes to her supervisor and ask review and timely remind them that she would like to be an anchor one day.
No wonder she progressed from positions to positions, earning different experiences ultimately landing the job of anchor at WPRI.
After WPRI, Kristine joined MSNBC in 2004 and moved to New York. She is thankful to her husband that he moved along with her at this point of time. MSNBC called her personally to join them seeing her progress.
Actually, CBS affiliate WPRI was then quickly growing and giving a tough challenge to then news leader in the providence area WJAR, a NBC affiliate. So, NBC decided to add the rising star Kristine in their deck.
Known for her oft voice and articulate anchoring, Kristine currently resides in northern New Jersey with her family consisting of her husband Steve Johnson and their two kids. Since she has to host 11 pm news, she always tries to reach home before 12:30 am and sleep at 1 am. She wakes every morning at 6:30 and then prepares her children for school. Nevertheless, she prepares breakfast for them and drive them to their school and goes to work.
She is really grateful to her family and husband because of their support. She says she will not be where she is today if they didn’t support. She understands lack of sleep is not doing her good, but she is satisfied with everything for now.
Her message for students and her newsroom intern is that it is very difficult to find success overnight. She says one may have to start from something that the person may not like, but if there is even a single percent of future progress in that job that the person sees viable, then he/she should go for it with 100 percent dedication and hard work. Also, she believes one should never be shy to ask questions if they don’t understand something.
Also, in an interview, she has also said that being in the profession is not as glamorous people expect. She says it also about being in the cold and on the mud.
Now moving on to her physical configuration, she is not a tall woman with the height of five feet and five inches. But, the multi-racial beauty with a parted short hairstyle (recent hairstyle, brown hair) and magnetic face is a hot slightly-pear shaped woman with the body-measurements of 33-25-35 inches (approximately) who can captivate you eyes any-day. Nevertheless, she doesn’t wear too revealing clothes but manages to look hot and elegant at the same time.
Last but not the least, she also represents CBS 2 at various events around the Tri-State area. Remarkably, she is often credited for working closely with the greater New York Chapters of the Susan G.Komen Race for a Cure, March of Dimes, Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, Down Syndrome Society, The Brain Tumor Foundation and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Run.
In an interview, she has said that Twitter is a place where she can get a little off-beat and quirky, and say things that she cannot tell during her newscast. But, she understands the responsibility that she has. In the interview, she also said that people should always present factual information on any media outlets as such information is viewed by millions.