Posted by Brian on May 25, 2008 at 08:11:28:
In Reply to: Re: Gissy Awards posted by Brian on May 25, 2008 at 08:08:26:
: : Why were the Gissy awards named after Giselle Fernandez, when did she win one and for what.?
Actually, I found it. I think this explains it all. From http://www.giselle.com/gfpe1e.html:
As a 1988 television reporter for WBBM in Chicago, she was criticized for interviewing a well-known drug dealer while taking a boat ride that many speculate was romantic, even though Fernandez had arranged for his surrender to law enforcement authorities following the interview. She still insists she did nothing unethical. "I should have been given an award for that," she says. Jim Avila, an NBC reporter who used to sit near Fernandez in the Chicago press room said, "Some people love her, some don't."
Perhaps the most devoted of those who loved her was WBBM news director, Ron Kershaw, to whom Fernandez was engaged. (Kershaw inspired the movie "Up Close and Personal", starring Robert Redford.) Having become romantically involved with her boss didn't win Fernandez any popularity, she was accused of trading flirtations for promotions. ("It doesn't matter how much one works, people always talk about you.") Regardless, the relationship flourished for about a year until Kershaw died of pancreatic cancer in 1988 with Fernandez at his side. "It was very traumatic," she says. "He was the love of my life." A year later, she left Chicago to work as a reporter for WCIX in Miami. In two years, offers from the major networks came pouring in.