Hidden Figures is an excellent movie.
Pioneering female television journalist Kay Stammers has passed away at the age of 72 after a battle with cancer. Kay was a reporter on Nine News Sydney in the 1970s and presented NewsWorld for Seven in the early 1980s.
Here’s part of a 1982 NewsWorld presented by Kay Stammers:
Thanks to Steve Rutherford for uploading this one to YouTube.
I first became aware of her sometime in the 1980s as a presenter on SBS. One series she presented there was a quiz show, Hello Australia, co-hosted with George Donikian sometime around 1986 ish. I didn’t realise until later that she had worked through the commercial networks before then.
YouTube: As Seen On TV
In an era before Pay TV in Australia, I’m guessing that it was Ten’s relays of CNN coverage (particularly during the Gulf War in 1991) which inspired the Fast Forward/Jane Turner sendups of Bobbie Battista?
Of course in any case, it’s sad to hear that this former CNN anchor has passed away.
No need to guess. She was obviously being sent up. In fact, she was called Bobby Battista on Fast Forward.
It was a different time. Comedians had no problem making fun of people’s disorders or diversity. This was also the same show where Michael Veitch sent up Bryant Gumbel in blackface before Aussies realised how offensive that was.
The Jane Turner impersonation dates back to before the Gulf War. I remember seeing Bobbie Battista presenting CNN’s Daybreak and Daywatch when they aired as part of Seven’s News Overnight. That would’ve been where Jane Turner got the inspiration from. I have a vivid memory of seeing her on air covering the Challenger disaster before I went swimming on an early January morning in 1986.