Leslie Griffith: The Career

A loyal reader who is also following the end of Leslie Griffith’s career at KTVU went to the station’s website to read its biography of the apparently erstwhile news anchor. It’s the standard stuff, recounting the impressive list of honors and awards bestowed upon her (sample: She “won a 2006 Telly Award for investigative reporting for ‘Horrors Under the Big Top,’ an expose focusing on the poor treatment of elephants by Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus”). But that’s not all. Our loyal reader was even more impressed by another achievement:

“Griffith’s outstanding work at KTVU Channel 2 News has netted her more than two dozen Emmy nominations and nine Emmy trophies, most recently for her 2003 news series, Lost Children of Romania.’ for which she spent two weeks following more than 100,000 homeless children through the sewers of Bucharest.”

Must have been a tough couple of weeks down there with all those kids.

20 Replies to “Leslie Griffith: The Career”

  1. Wow – I didn’t even notice. I haven’t been watching religiously as of late, because frankly I’m getting tired of KTVU (partly Leslie’s fault). But I’m already tired of Julie Haener. Someone get that woman another batch of peroxide so she can fill in those roots. Sorry – cruel I know, but just think of how they’ll look in HD! My vote goes to Sara Sidner to fill the chair. For ALL newscasts.

  2. Leslie Griffith, I’m sorry, but she reminds me of a female version of the image consience ” Ted Baxter” of the Mary Tyler Moore show! Leslie always lowers her voice when she reads the news. Makes her sound more credible I guess? She also turns her head to her monitor with to much drama as they go to a live shot or video clip.

  3. Just noticed on Friday night that they didn’t say ‘Leslie Griffith is off tonight’. That’s about as official as it gets to saying your gone. Probably a contractural clause to say you’re ‘off tonight’.
    Sara Sidner has been in grooming for the weekday spot for some time.

  4. What KTVU should do is get rid of Dennis “the grump” Richmond! However, because he is a “protected” class he is probably untouchable. I was never a fan of Leslie however, Sara & Julie wouldn’t be a bad combo.

  5. I agree that it’s utterly intolerable to live in a world run by African-American men, especially grumpy ones. The situation is bound to get worse with the Democrats back in power.

  6. so is Leslie officially gone? does anyone know if it was contractural or if she was forced out (talk about karma, didn’t she force out dennis’ old partner)…my vote goes for Sara also, and even though I support more blacks in anchor positions, dennis is tired and needs to go…though the racist over-tones of earlier posters bother me

  7. Leslie Griffith was ridiculous. WAY to much inflection in her voice, and when she’d hit the low notes, she’d have to dig her chin into her neck, making her look as ridiculous as she sounded. It sounded like the news was being delivered by Bob Uecker. I felt sorry for Dennis Richmond, having to share the camera with her. KTVU’s loss is the public’s gain.

  8. I’m sorry to see Leslie go. She was my favorite newscaster in the Bay Area. I didn’t find her delivery of the news affected at all; on the contrary, she seemed to impart a seriousness and authenticity lacking in other anchors, and one sensed a compassionate intelligence behind the on-screen personality. My opinion may also have been influenced by a couple of interviews I read in which she came across as a bright and genuinely thoughtful person.

  9. Leslie is a total delight. I know it because I interned at KTVU twice over the course of 2 years. She’s as bright and kind, as she is lovely. It’s no small feat to get to the top of a major market station like KTVU. Those of you who have taken cheap shots at her, obviously have no idea how grueling it is to work under such scrutiny at all times. I wish her the best…and hope the clowns out there realize how fortunate we all were to watch someone of substance for the past 20 years.

  10. I have heard and read various possible reasons for Leslie Griffith leaving KTVU … yet no coments on what seems obvious to me … fact is, her reading ability has been in severe deterioriation for the past year or so …. makes me wonder what caused the reading problems … but from my perspective, her faulty reading is what lead to her dismissal.

  11. Leslie was my favorite news personality over the past 20 years. She was smart, gracious, and a great person. She was also very beautiful and sexy. Leslie, wherever you are, best of luck to a real pro!

  12. Leslie’s gone? Hooray! I may start watching KTVU again. Eddie’s points were right on with her inflection. She also emphasised the “ff” and “th” in her last name, much like Dennis does with the last “d” of Richmond.
    Her liberal bias was almost as transparent as Randy Shandobil. I stopped watching months ago because of that very reason.

  13. Can anyone expand on the Leslie Griffith / Mark Ibanez love connection? I heard they used to brawl in the studio. Beautiful.

  14. I thought I was the only one who noticed Leslie Griffith’s ridiculous low note inflections. I still remember her saying “the power grid” and hitting such a low note that she sounded like james earl jones.

  15. I too, am sorry to see Leslie go. I like her, I thought she was personable, bright, and gave a damn about what she was doing. Those of you that found it necessary to highlight her faults, obviously decided to watch and NOT switch channels. All newspeople have qurks (some more than others)- live with it people, or change the channel!! To all of you that like Leslie, you are not alone – everyone else, if you do not like the way the news is being delivered, go deliver it yourself!!

  16. Yes, Leslie and Ibanez were once a couple. That was back in late 80’s. It ended and she was bitter. She was the weekend anchor at the time. Mark used to work Sun thru Thurs, but the tension between the two of them got so bad, that they moved him to M thru Friday so those two wouldn’t be on the set at the same time.

  17. Yes, Leslie…you will be missed by many and critiqued by the rest that have nothing better to do. I’m just wondering if you are doing well? Sudden disappearance? How is your health?

  18. Leslie was so beautiful I used to watch the news just to see her pretty face. I hope all is well with her and she does even more successful in her new position.

  19. Count me as one who is happy that Leslie is no longer an anchor on the 10 o’clock news. I am sure that she did some good work as a reporter, but I found listening to her painful. She seemed to use totally random stress and inflections – completely unrelated to the meaning of the copy. Like others who posted, I prefer unvarnished information like that provided by British news readers; Leslie Griffith’s delivery was the antithesis of that.

  20. Can anyone expand on the Leslie Griffith / Mark Ibanez love connection? I heard they used to brawl in the studio. Beautiful.

Comments are closed.

Discover more from Infospigot: The Chronicles

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading