Meredith Vieira to recieve Governors' Award from NATAS Boston/New England
WMUR-TV
[{'start': '0.366', 'end': '0.766', 'text': "'RE MAKING YOUR WAY THROUGH MERRIMACK.  MEANWHILE, 93 IS MOVING WELL, A  SIGNIFICANT HONOR TONIGHT FOR  LONGTIME JOURNALIST AND TV  PERSONALITY MEREDITH VIEIRA.  THE NEW ENGLAND NATIVE IS  RECEIVING THE GOVERNOR'S AWARD,  PRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL  ACADEMY OF TELEVISION ARTS AND  SCIENCES, BOSTON, NEW ENGLAND  CHAPTER.  OUR KATHERINE UNDERWOOD SPOKE  WITH VIEIRA VIEIRA ABOUT  RECEIVING THE ORGANIZATION'S  HIGHEST HONOR.  SO TELL US WHEN YOU FIRST HEARD  THAT NEWS, HOW DID YOU FEEL?  WELL, FIRST, I DIDN'T BELIEVE  IT.  YOU KNOW, IT'S ALWAYS LIKE ME.  ARE YOU.  ARE YOU SURE?  AND THEN IT'S IT'S VERY  HUMBLING.  AND I TAKE A LOT OF PRIDE IN  THIS BECAUSE, YOU KNOW, I GREW  UP IN NEW ENGLAND.  I'M A RHODE ISLAND GIRL.  EAST PROVIDENCE, RUMFORD, RHODE  ISLAND.  THE PERSON THAT I AM WAS FORMED  BY THOSE NEW ENGLAND ROOTS AND  BY MY PARENTS WHO WHOSE PARENTS  WERE PORTUGUESE IMMIGRANTS.  SO AZOREAN ACTUALLY, AND BOTH MY  PARENTS WERE EXTREMELY  HARDWORKING AND VERY ETHICAL  PEOPLE AND JUST LOVELY HUMAN  BEINGS.  AND I THINK THEY INSTILLED IN ME  A VALUE OF WORK AND DECENCY AND,  AND AN ETHICAL CODE TO LIVE BY.  I WENT TO A QUAKER SCHOOL IN  PROVIDENCE THAT ADDED ON TO THAT  LINCOLN SCHOOL FOR GIRLS.  AND THEN I ENDED UP AT TUFTS  UNIVERSITY IN THE BOSTON AREA,  MEDFORD, SOMERVILLE, AND MY  FIRST JOB AS AN INTERN WAS AT  ALL NEWS RADIO IN BOSTON, EEI,  AND THEY TOOK A CHANCE ON ME.  I WAS A SENIOR IN COLLEGE AND  REALLY LOST.  I HAD HAD EVERY MAJOR UNDER THE  SUN, ENDED UP MY SENIOR YEAR AS  AN ENGLISH MAJOR BY DEFAULT.  TOOK THIS COURSE NOT FOR CREDIT  IN BROADCAST JOURNALISM, AND WE  HAD TO DO A TAPED DOCUMENTARY  RADIO TAPE.  AND I WAS THE VOICE OF MINE, AND  IT WAS JUDGED BY THE HEAD OF CBS  NEWS, BILL SHURMUR.  HE CAME IN TO CRITIQUE AND HE  ASKED, WHO IS THAT?  AND I RAISED MY HAND.  HE SAID, I NEED TO TALK TO YOU.  I LITERALLY THOUGHT I WAS GOING  TO GET THROWN OUT OF SCHOOL.  AND HE SAID, WHAT ARE YOU DOING  WHEN YOU GRADUATE?  AND I SAID, I DON'T KNOW.  AND HE SAID, I DO.  YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE A BIG  CAREER.  AND HE HIRED ME ON THE SPOT AS  AN INTERN AT AT W E I, WHICH WAS  A BIG STATION.  AND STATION IN NEWS AND, AND I  WAS JUST I IT WAS A BLESSING.  I DIDN'T EVEN GET IT AT THE TIME  BECAUSE I WAS NOT A NEWS PERSON.  BUT I TOOK TO IT.  I JUST LOVED IT.  AND I HAD SO MUCH SUPPORT FROM  THE PEOPLE THERE WHO BELIEVED IN  ME.  I DON'T KNOW WHY, BUT THEY DID,  AND I WORKED EXTREMELY HARD AND  THEN ENDED UP AT CHANNEL TEN IN  PROVIDENCE AND FROM THERE TO NEW  YORK.  AND THE REST IS, AS THEY SAY,  HISTORY.  BUT ALL OF MY INITIAL BREAKS  CAME FROM FOLKS IN NEW ENGLAND  WHO JUST SAW SOMETHING IN ME  THAT EVEN I DIDN'T SEE.  AND AND WITHOUT THEM, I WOULD  NOT BE WHERE I AM TODAY.  AND IT'S NOT LOST ON ME.  YEAH, IT'S SO IMPORTANT IN THOSE  EARLY YEARS TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO  BELIEVES IN YOU AND TOTALLY,  TOTALLY.  MY NEWS DIRECTOR AT EEI, MIKE  LUDLAM, I DIDN'T PASS THE  WRITING TEST THE FIRST TIME AND  HE SAID, WELL, YOU'LL BE MY  SECRETARY.  AND THEN WE'LL, YOU KNOW, AND  YOU'LL TAKE IT AGAIN.  AND HE DIDN'T REALIZE I'D GONE  TO KATIE GIBBS THE SUMMER  BEFORE, JUST SO I COULD HAVE  SOMETHING TO DO.  WHEN I GRADUATED SOME SKILL SET.  BUT I WASN'T GOOD, AND HE WOULD  END UP RETYPING EVERYTHING AT  NIGHT.  HE WOULD STAY LATE AND ALL MY  ERRORS HE WOULD FIX.  SO HE MADE IT HIS MISSION TO  FIND ME A JOB, AND HE FOUND ME A  RADIO JOB IN WORCESTER,  MASSACHUSETTS.  I DIDN'T KNOW AT THE TIME THAT  HE WAS JUST TRYING TO, LIKE,  VERY NICELY GET ME OUT OF THAT  GIG OF BEING A SECRETARY WHEN I  WASN'T GOOD AT IT.  BUT BUT THOSE ARE THE KINDS OF  PEOPLE I WORKED WITH.  THEY JUST, YOU KNOW, THEY I FOR  WHATEVER REASON, I THINK THEY  LIKED ME.  THEY THOUGHT I WAS SMART AND  THEY THEY WERE WILLING TO HELP  ME.  AND YOU CAN WATCH KATHERINE'S  INTERVIEW WITH MEREDITH VIEIRA  IN ITS ENTIRETY RIGHT NOW OVER  ON OUR WEBSITE AND MOBILE APP.  AND VIEIRA'S GAME SHOW, 25 WORDS  OR"}]