It’s not uncommon for journalists to change careers. They may stop being reporters or anchors to become the person who shapes the message others report on. Industry veterans can think of many who moved from reporting or anchoring to public relations or jobs in communications for government agencies or nonprofits.
Some examples include Matt DeCample, who left KATV to be communications director for former Gov. Mike Beebe; Cecillea Pond-Mayo, a onetime TV reporter, who is now communications director for the Arkansas House of Representatives; Meg Matthews, a onetime TV reporter on KTHV, who served as communications director for the city of Little Rock; and, former TV producer Mitch Chandler, who is now sales director at the Arkansas Scholarship Lottery.
But that’s not the case for KATV news anchor Scott Inman. AMP reported that Inman will be leaving the station when his contract is up to become director of business development for GenWealth Financial Advisors in Bryant.
Read more about Inman’s departure here, and his new job here.
Career Change
When KATV made the announcement, it quoted Inman as saying he made the decision to allow him to spend more time with his family.
“It’s been weighing heavily on me for a long time,” he told AMP in a follow-up interview. Inman and his wife have four children. He said the youngsters are involved in a number of activities from music to athletics. Anchoring the 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. news means Inman goes to work about the time his children are getting out of school, leaving little time to be involved in their after school activities.
“Your priorities change over the years,” he said. “I wasn’t ready for this kind of change 10 or even five years ago.”
Coincidentally, he pointed out he and his wife recently discussed that he wasn’t ready for career change until now. Once he was ready to make the change, Inman said he had to find something he could be passionate about.
“The thought of helping others reach their personal goals appeals to me,” he said. This is what he expects to be doing as he leads GenWealth Financial’s marketing, which includes the company’s regular wealth-management radio show and other outreach efforts.
“I’ve gotten to know and trust those people. John [Shrewsbury, a GenWealth partner] handled my retirement planning, so I got to know him pretty well,” Inman explained.
Will Inman ever become a financial adviser himself? He said, “It’s a possibility, maybe even a likelihood.”
Inman isn’t the first Little Rock television anchor to transition into the financial services sector. Longtime Little Rock viewers will remember one time KTHV anchor Andy Pearson.
Pearson’s story is a little different in how it happened, but similar in the outcome. It wasn’t his idea to leave. He left television when the station chose not to renew his contract in 2007. Pearson is also a father and mentioned the same challenges Inman faced as a parent.
“If I was still in TV, I’d never get to see [my son] during the week after school,” he said. Like Inman, Pearson said he likes the idea of helping people.
Pearson entered the financial sector after KTHV when he joined UBS Financial. He now works for Ramsey, Krug, Farrell & Lensing, a division of BancorpSouth Insurance Services, helping individual clients and businesses on a variety of insurance products including group benefits and other business insurance.
Industry in Transition
Inman won’t be totally removed from broadcasting. Along with helping GenWealth with their radio programs, he hopes to remain involved in the broadcast of the Arkansas Razorback Sports Network, something he’s done for many years and enjoys.
Pearson also worked in radio after leaving television, anchoring morning news on KARN Newsradio for several years. He also started and hosted a weekend program dealing with divorce.
Does Pearson miss the news business? “I wish I could say I did,” he told AMP. He said if he does miss it, it’s only during really big stories.
“I still wish I could be in the midst of it when that happens,” he added. But he doesn’t miss the day-to-day television business.
“I can count on one hand the number of times I actually helped someone in their life when I was on TV. As corny as it sounds, now I do it every day,” he added.
Inman had a successful career at Channel 7. The KATV news release about his departure pointed out that the station led the ratings for the years Inman has been a part of the news department. He joined KATV in March 1999 as a weekend sports anchor, became news anchor in September 2003, and the anchor chair has been his TV home ever since.
Inman started in broadcasting at age 16, “But I started dreaming about it when I was nine,” he remembered. As for the changes he’s experienced since becoming the co-anchor, Inman was quick to say, “There was no Twitter or Facebook back then. There was barely an Internet.”
He said there is no doubt social media has changed the television business. “We used to think of TV as being immediate,” he said. But now, he explained, his colleagues also put a priority on getting breaking news out on social media and the KATV website as it breaks.
“It’s the first thing we think of now,” he concluded.
He also points out the impact technology has had on the on-screen product. TV has always been a visual medium, but he adds now it’s a real “catch your eye” approach. And part of that is the availability of video from citizens and their ability to capture pictures on smartphones as news happens before TV videographers can get to the story.
Inman doesn’t know if he’ll miss TV. But he knows he’ll miss the people at KATV. He credits the news team and KATV management for the long ratings success.
“It’s a great work environment,” he said of KATV. “Management always found the right fit for the people on the team.”
Inman’s his actual departure date is not yet set. His contract is over at the end of January 2016.