Columnist Tim Graham: Women give local TV sports another view

Tim Graham

Wednesday, April 29, 1998 | 9:25 a.m.

TIM GRAHAM is a Las Vegas SUN sportswriter. His media column appears Wednesdays. He can be reached on the Internet at tim@lasvegassun.com

The integration of women in sports journalism is not a fresh story anymore.

Major papers around the country are rife with female beat writers, many of whom cover the manly-men sports of football, hockey, boxing. "Fox Sports News" and ESPN's "SportsCenter" have employed female anchors for some time.

But in Las Vegas, the history of female sports journalists could be summed up in seconds. For one reason or another, the scant few women who have entered the field have failed to make an impact.

KTNV Channel 13's Anne Kazimer and Robin Burke are changing that.

Kazimer is KTNV's sports producer. Burke splits time between the station's newsroom and sports department.

"Having these two around bring me a different outlook," KTNV sports director Ron Futrell said. "Sometimes we get so male-dominated and think we know everything there is to about sports, but they bring a refreshing approach, which I feel is needed."

Kazimer and Burke are the first women to work local TV sports since Karie Ross anchored at KLAS Channel 8. Ross came from ESPN in 1991, but didn't prove to be an asset.

"Part of the problem with Karie was that she didn't really care a whole lot about sports, and she told me that," Futrell said. "She did sports as a way to get into the TV business, and that hurt the reputation of the abilities of females in this market. That set things back a bit."

Until Burke asked KTNV management to do more sports features last year, Las Vegas was behind the times.

"When I got here," Burke said, "I was very surprised there were no female sportscasters at all.

"Sometimes people out in the field ask me if I'd been demoted. I once had a coach say to me 'Where's Ron and (weekend anchor) Mario (Diaz)? Wasn't I important enough?' I took that personally."

Before Kazimer even started in sports, she knew she would have to work a little harder than her male counterparts.

"When I first came over to the sports department I thought 'There are only three stations here, and I'm the only female sports producer,'" Kazimer said. It was on my mind. I definitely wanted to earn some respect and do a good job."

Added Futrell: "It's tougher for women in sports to get credibility because, as viewers, we're more critical of them. That's wrong, but it's a harsh reality. So you better be good if you're a female trying to break into the business right now."

Burke, a 34-year-old Denver native, isn't sure about making sports her full-time job. Although she would prefer to do more sports features, she still enjoys anchoring KTNV's weekend newscasts.

"I don't know if I can make a niche for myself with my news/sports repertoire," Burke said. "But I do know when I come into work and I know I'm going to be working on a sports story, I get excited."

Kazimer, who turns 28 on Friday, would like to make sports production her career.

"I wouldn't mind doing this for the rest of my life," the UNLV grad said. "It's a blast. I have the best job. I work with the best people.

"I'm not out here to become famous. I just love what I do."