Just blocks away from where she anchors the news is where Jennifer Roscoe aired her first broadcast, took her first radio class and served her first cold one at the “home of the drinking Illini.”
Yes, for one short stretch as a UI undergrad, the grand marshal of next week’s UI homecoming parade worked behind the bar at Kam’s.
But “I was the worst bartender in history. I didn’t know how to make drinks, so I just tried to get them the right color,” she says. “I was grateful when it was quarter beer night.”
Of course, she’s far better known around here as the award-winning news anchor of WCIA, where she started as an intern in 1992 — and has been ever since.
Roscoe learned much of what she knows about making it in media from a few of the UI College of Media’s finest.
“So much of my time at the University of Illinois shaped who I am as a journalist,” says the northwest suburban Chicago native, who graduated with honors in 1993.
“It all starts with Robin Kaler. She taught my radio class and her words of wisdom are ones I have repeated to new reporters coming though WCIA for decades. How to write a lead, figure out who to interview, dig for details — all came from her.
“I was very lucky to have incredible instructors like Terry Finnegan and Mitch Kazel, who showed me how to use video to craft a story and make it interesting to viewers.
“My first broadcast experience was actually anchoring a five-minute newscast at 11:55 p.m. for the dorm radio station, WDBS. I’m pretty sure my boyfriend — now husband — was the only one listening.
“Outside of journalism and the basement of Greg Hall, my best memories are on both sides of Daniel Street,” says Roscoe, a two-year Theta House resident.
Among the honors she's piled up in 30-plus years in C-U: being recognized in 2018 as a Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts of Central Illinois. Asked at the time why she opted to stick around so long and not jump at a chance to move up to a bigger market, Roscoe said: “I realized a long time ago I didn't need to work in a large market to be happy.
"I have a job I love where I can tell amazing, inspiring stories, and I get to live in a community where people truly care about one another.”
