From Madrigals to the Morning News: FGR Alumni Profile – Mallory Anderson ’11
Mallory Anderson ’11 begins her day when most people are still asleep. As a news anchor and reporter at WISN-TV in Milwaukee, she’s often on the air delivering the morning news before sunrise. Her path to the anchor desk has taken her through television markets across the country, but many of the skills she relies on today—from performing under pressure to connecting with an audience—trace back to her time at Father Gabriel Richard High School. In the Q&A below, Mallory shares what life is really like behind the scenes in a busy newsroom, how she found her way into journalism, and the lessons from FGR that continue to shape her impressive career.
You’re a News Anchor and Reporter at WISN-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. That job has a very visible on-screen role, but I’m sure there is a lot of work behind the scenes that people don’t know about. What’s a typical day like for you at WISN?
A typical day for me at WISN starts at 2:00 in the morning! I have to be at work by 3:30 a.m. so I get up in the middle of the night to start my day. There’s no professional stylist or hair and makeup team, so it’s up to me to look TV ready. Once at work, I start proofing scripts for our newscasts which begin at 4:30 am. From 4:30 – 7:00 am, I’m anchoring our morning news. Milwaukee is a very active news market, so we typically have breaking news overnight (anything from shootings, to fires, to car crashes) or a big local story to preview for the day, along with the other stories locally and nationally that people may have missed from the day before. This is where my ‘normal’ day ends. After the newscasts, my assignment depends on what’s happening in the moment, which makes my day interesting and never boring. I often go out and report in the community from 7:00 am until about noon. If there’s breaking news, I’m arriving on scene without much information and trying to gather details to report on air and online. Other times it’s a pre-planned event where I’m interviewing subjects on a topic or asking questions at a press conference. Then I write my script, send soundbites back to the station so it can air on TV, and prepare for a live report at 11:00 am. By the way, while a script is prepared, there’s no teleprompter in the field. After my live shot, my photographer and I head back to the station to prepare a ‘package’ (90 second recorded story) for the evening newscasts on my story I did at 11:00. Throughout the work day I’m also making social media posts and writing web articles for the website.
Did you always know you’d end up in your current career, or did your path change at some point? How did you ultimately decide that this career was a good fit for your talents and interests?
Growing up, I always thought I’d go into acting! I loved performing in stage shows and actually chose to attend FGR over my hometown’s public high school because I knew I’d have more opportunities for lead roles as an underclassman. As a senior in high school, I auditioned for several universities’ theatre programs, but didn’t get in. It’s an incredibly competitive process with most schools (like the University of Michigan) only accepting around seven female freshmen a year out of thousands of auditions! These rejections stung pretty badly, but gave me some tough skin, and helped open my eyes to my next best path. I ended up pivoting to journalism after I realized it still offered me a small chance to ‘perform’ while also bettering any community I worked in by keeping viewers informed. For any seniors who didn’t make it into their dream school the first time around, just know it always works out in the end.
What’s one moment or lesson from your time at Father Gabriel Richard that still sticks with you today?
I loved being able to perform with the Madrigals, not only around the state, but also at Disney World. We were traveling almost every weekend during the holiday season to perform at book shops, nursing homes, restaurants, auctions, etc. That focus on showing up for our community to essentially just bring joy and music to strangers taught me how important it is to carve out time for the communities I live in post-high school. I will often volunteer to emcee events sponsored by my news station and love reporting in the community, because it gets me face-to-face with people from all walks of life.
Who was a teacher or mentor who helped shape your path?
Ms. K-M obviously had a very strong influence on my time in high school and beyond. Though I didn’t end up pursuing acting professionally, the skills I learned in drama class/club and Madrigals prepared me for my future career in journalism. I’m able to talk to anyone with confidence and report on live TV without a script (and without panicking) thanks to the time I spent performing in high school. While I didn’t have Ms. Skrent as a teacher, she was my cheer coach for freshman and sophomore year! She’s an incredible mentor and an important reason why I had so much fun in high school. I also still cherish a note I received from Mrs. LaVasseur during my senior year. She was able to open my eyes to how a profound loss as a child (my father died when I was 11) helped shape me into the woman I was becoming (and now am today).
What accomplishments are you most proud of in your career or personal life?
I’m super proud of how far I’ve climbed in my career in just a decade! For reference, there are about 205 media markets in the country. New York is #1, LA #2 and Chicago #3 (rankings are based on population size). I started in 2016 in Marquette, MI at market 181. From there, I worked in Lansing, MI jumping to market 117, then I moved to Colorado Springs (#87), and finally to Milwaukee at market 38. The industry is changing constantly, and markets where you had to make 3 stops around the country are now hiring people straight out of college. Knowing I have been hired for main anchor positions based on talent and incredibly hard work has been very rewarding! I also did it all without an agent, which is a rarity in my industry.
What motivates you when challenges start stacking up?
Thinking about how hard my mom worked as a single mom definitely puts things into perspective when I’m hitting a rough patch! After my dad died in 2004, she had to raise myself and my two siblings alone and take over his small business. She is an unbelievable role model and I know that being raised by her means I can conquer any challenge!
If you could give current Father Gabriel Richard students today one piece of advice for preparing for college, careers, and life, what would it be?
Make as many connections as possible. If you are passionate about a certain field or career, try reaching out to people in the business to see if they’d mentor you, or even be available for a quick phone call. It’s a cliché, but life really does often come down to ‘who you know.’ Being driven enough to cold call or email someone to ask for advice can often open the door to opportunities. If you don’t get a response, move on to someone else. One closed door means you can look for an open window. In my field, I also encourage students to actually watch/read the news. With social media nowadays it’s easy to feel like you know what’s going on, but you have to remember you are being fed an algorithm in a vacuum. Turn on different local news stations and see what’s happening in your communities. There’s a lot of rhetoric about whether you can trust ‘the news.’ I’ll tell you first-hand your local TV stations and newspapers are actively working to bring you the truth and are asking tough questions of those in charge. We’re the ones sitting in city council meetings, interviewing people making decisions on your behalf, knocking on doors after a crime, and are highlighting the fun events around your town.
What excites you most about the future of your field? And are there any goals or dreams you’re chasing next?
There’s a lot of fear about what will happen to the news industry in the next 20 years, as habits have adjusted from watching the 11:00 pm news before bed to scrolling social media instead. While some people are fearful of that, I choose to see it as a new challenge. My station is actively working to put more news videos on social media, meeting viewers ‘vertically’ with Instagram Reels and TikToks. While TV news may not look the same in a few years, I truly believe it’s a service that will always be needed. There will always be a demand for reporters to sniff out scandal, highlight incredible feats of heroism, and offer a platform for the public to ask for help. I’ve always had dreams of making it to New York or Chicago but am also at a time in my life where I may want to finally have holidays off and not wake up Monday – Friday at 2:00 am. My future isn’t clear, but that’s ironically the same reason why so many of us go into news. We love the unexpected, and every single day is different! I’m grateful for every moment I get to spend on-air and in my community. If/when I do decide to pivot, thankfully journalism is incredibly applicable to many other careers like public relations, marketing, and professional communications.