Kyra Phillips

Kyra Phillips (born August 8 1968) [ [http://www.travelandleisure.com/tlgolf/articles/golf-life-kyra-phillips Golf Life: Kyra Phillips] from Travel + Leisure Golf] [imdb name|id=2124994] is an American news anchor for CNN, where she has been reporting since October 1999. Phillips co-anchors the afternoon edition of "CNN Newsroom".cite web| url=http://www.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/phillips.kyra.html| title=Kyra Phillips| accessdate=2006-08-30| work=Anchors & Reporters| publisher=CNN]

Early life and career

Phillips grew up in San Diego and received her bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Southern California where she was a member of the Delta Gamma national women's fraternity. Among her first jobs in broadcasting were the positions of weekend anchor and reporter for WLUK-TV in Green Bay, Wisconsin before moving on to WDSU-TV in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1994. Phillips has also held positions as morning anchor for KAMC-TV in Lubbock, Texas, field producer for CNN-Telemundo’s Washington, D.C. offices and a journalist of the special assignment unit of KCBS-TV in Los Angeles, California. In her spare time, Phillips participates in Big Brothers Big Sisters of America and has been doing so since 1992.

Career at CNN

Phillips joined CNN in 1999. During her early years at CNN, Phillips was granted access to U.S. Navy airwing CVW-9 in 2001 as they prepared for the war in Afghanistan. In January 2002, Phillips spent about a month in Antarctica to work on a television documentary to be featured on the program "CNN Presents". Later in 2002, Phillips produced reports focusing on the U.S. Navy’s reconnaissance missions from the USS "Paul Hamilton", the Navy’s Special Operations Command, the Navy SEALs, and Special Warfare Combatant Crewman training, riding in an F-14 Tomcat during an air-to-air combat mission over the Persian Gulf. She has also participated in the Navy’s TOPGUN school, SWAT training, and other police and weapons training.

In 2003, she was an embedded journalist during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, where she reported from the USS "Abraham Lincoln".

On September 22 2006, Phillips was the last journalist to fly in an F-14 Tomcat before its official retirement from service in the U.S. Navy. cite web| url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0609/22/cnr.05.html| title=CNN Newsroom - Sept 22, 2006 | work=CNN Transcripts | publisher=CNN]

Awards

In 1997 Phillips was named Reporter of the Year by the Associated Press. She has also won four Emmy Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards for investigative reporting.

Phillips was recently featured in the April 2008 issue of San Diego Magazine [http://www.sandiegomagazine.com] .

Personal life

Phillips was married to A. John Assad (presumably the husband she praised in her famous open-mic incident of August 2006). In April 2008, she stated she is not married,cite web|url=http://www.sandiegomagazine.com/media/San-Diego-Magazine/April-2008/Kyra-Phillips/"| title=Kyra Phillips: Dialogue With Tom Blair | publisher=San Diego Magazine ] indicating a divorce sometime in between.

Criticisms

Kyra Phillips was criticised for her perceived insensitivity during an April 16, 2003 interview with Dr Imad al-Najada, the doctor of Ali Ismail Abbas, a 12-year-old boy who lost 15 relatives and both arms when a US missile hit his home in Baghdad.cite news
url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=44399440
title = Ungrateful Ali: Painful Paradox of Embedded Freedom
publisher = Times of India
author = Siddharth Varadarajan
date = 2003-25-17
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] cite web
url = http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s836791.htm
title = Media Watch: Saving Ali
publisher = ABC Australia
date = 2003-04-21
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] Joan Walsh, news editor of Salon.com, wrote:cite news
url = http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2003/04/17/ali_abbas/index.html
title = The unfortunate poster boy
publisher = Salon.com
author = Joan Walsh
date = 2003-04-17
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ]

"CNN hit rock bottom on Wednesday morning, when anchor Kyra Phillips interviewed Ali's doctor in Kuwait, Dr Imad al- Najada explained that, although Ali told reporters he was grateful for his treatment, he also hopes no other 'children in the war will suffer like what he suffered'. Phillips seemed shocked by Ali's apparent inability to understand we were only trying to help him. 'Doctor, does he understand why this war took place? Has he talked about Operation Iraqi Freedom and the meaning. Does he understand it?'"

On a CNN segment aired on April 21, 2005, one of her guests said that research showed that it was "a proven fact" that "children in same-sex couple homes are 11 times more likely to be abused sexually." This claim has no foundation in fact. In an article explaining how dubious and misleading statistics enter the national discourse with little notice, the "Wall Street Journal" columnist, Carl Bialik, later determined the figure to have been derived from research published in "Psychological Reports" by Dr. Paul Cameron. Cameron's research has been criticized by other scientists for statistical flaws as well as for being both a researcher and an advocate for anti-gay agendas. Phillips called it a "bold statement" and gave the other guest with an opposing view an immediate opportunity to respond to the assertion.cite news
url = http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB111461604615918400.html
title = Debate Over Gay Foster Parents Shines Light on a Dubious Stat
publisher = Wall Street Journal
author = Carl Bialik
date = April 28, 2005
accessdate = 2007-03-29] Kelly McBride, ethics group leader at the Poynter Institute, criticized Phillips for failing to challenge the statement, and said it is the responsibility of the anchor to ask pointed questions when such numbers are stated as fact. "This is one of the faults of live TV," McBride said. "It is the anchor’s job to push back. You have to have the skills to question. The idea is not to say 'yes, this is right,' or 'no, this is wrong,' but to give the audience some kind of context of where the research comes from."cite news
url = http://www.southernvoice.com/2005/5-13/view/actionalert/action.cfm
title = Anti-gay numbers game
publisher = Southern Voice
author = Dyana Bagby
date = 13 May 2005
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ]

Discussing live images of the 2006 labor protests in France, in which it was later determined that no one was killed, she said that the images of the demonstrations "Sort of brings back memories of Tiananmen Square, when you saw these activists in front of tanks." [cite news
url = http://www.fin24.co.za/articles/companies/display_article.aspx?Nav=ns&lvl2=comp&ArticleID=1518-1783_1906730
title = French protests 'Tiananmen'
publisher = FIN24
date = 2006-03-28
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ] CNN's Chris Burns told French Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy that her comments were "regrettable." [cite news
url = http://search.ft.com/iab?queryText=%22Chris%20Burns%22&y=11&aje=true&x=14&id=060330000834&location=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2FftArticle%3FqueryText%3D%2522Chris+Burns%2522%26y%3D11%26aje%3Dtrue%26x%3D14%26id%3D060330000834&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fsearch.ft.com%2Fsearch%3FqueryText%3D%22Chris+Burns%22
title = OBSERVER: Just a little comment
publisher = Financial Times
pagesr = page 14
date = 30 March 2006
accessdate = 2007-03-29 ]

Mishaps

On August 29, 2006, during a CNN broadcast of President George W. Bush's speech on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina's landfall, Phillips' microphone was left on while she was in the bathroom. Portions of a personal conversation were broadcast live for over a minute and a half, during which Phillips offered advice on men, criticized her sister-in-law for being a "control freak," and praised her husband. [ [http://hotair.com/archives/2006/08/29/potty-break-mic-snafu-cnns-phillips-chats-in-the-loo-during-bush-speech/ Hot Air » Blog Archive » Potty break mic snafu: CNN’s Phillips chats in the loo during Bush speech ] ] The conversation audio was mixed with the President's audio feed and both were discernible. Daryn Kagan broke into Phillips' rant with an audio recap of Bush's speech. [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp7QhEeQF_o YouTube - CNN's Kyra Phillips Forgets to Turn Off Mic ] ] CNN immediately apologized for the on-air gaffe. [ [http://entertainment.tv.yahoo.com/entnews/va/20060829/115691242100.html] ]

On January 30 2008, Phillips joked about making a "reverse oreo" with black co-host Don Lemon and white female colleague Gerri Willis. [http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/01/30/cnns-kyra-phillips-jokes_n_84113.html CNN's Kyra Phillips Jokes About Making "Reverse Oreo" With Black Cohost Don Lemon ] ] Phillips used the term with sexual overtones (stating, "yeah, good time"), much to the "visual embarrassment" of Willis.

References