News reporter goes the extra mile for charities

Television news viewers know Renee

Phillips from watching her co-anchor the

evening and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts

on KRNV-TV Channel 4

But anyone involved in a lot of charity

work in Reno has probably met her in

person.

When she's not at the news desk,

Phillips is often at an event to raise

money to help others. She is involved in

about a dozen charities, ready to go the

extra mile for a deserving cause.

Make that 26.2 miles. In 1999, she ran

the Honolulu marathon in pouring rain to

raise money for arthritis treatment and

research.

Her nonprofit work earned her a nomination

for Northern Nevada Woman of

the Year, and her "Wednesday's Child"

features, in which she introduces foster

children on the air, won her an honor

from the Nevada Division of Child and

Family Services.

As a 14-year broadcast journalist,

Phillips has run across much hardship.

Some of the causes she chooses to support

touch her heart because of people she has

met in her reporting. Other efforts are

more personal, such as her work for the

American Cancer Society. Breast cancer

has hit her family hard, and Phillips keenly

feels the threat.

"She's just a great asset to the community,"

says Jessica Williams, corporate

events director for the American Heart

Association, one of the non-profits

Phillips assists. "She always gives her

time, and she just never stops. She never

says no to an opportunity to increase

awareness of the importance of

our health as women."

Williams, who praises the

entire News 4 team for its support,

says Phillips doesn't just

talk about health. She shows

how to live a healthy life.

Phillips runs, mountain

bikes and recently earned her

certification for scuba diving.

She also teaches spinning classes

- popular group workouts

on stationary bicycles at a

local health club.

Phillips says working for

charities is her way of giving

back to the community. She

also enjoys getting to know

viewers on a more personal

level. "I don't want to be a sterile

unfeeling kind of journalist."

She says she strives to be

true to herself, both on and off

camera. She is unafraid of

showing her human side, even

sharing news of her marriage

engagement on air.

Phillips didn't grow up

yearning

to be a

TV news

personality.

She

was an

athlete

and

wanted to be physical therapist

when she started college.

Why the switch?

"Calculus," she says with a

laugh.

Actually the broadcasting

idea came from a professor,

who noticed her public speaking

talent. Phillips says speaking

in front of the class felt

natural, and she enjoyed writing

and history, which dovetailed

nicely with journalism.

Once she decided to go for

broadcasting, she jumped at

every opportunity.

"I had

no social

life in

college,"

she says.

"I knew if

I decided

on broadcasting,

I had to go the whole

way."

Her family questioned

whether she was doing the

right thing because broadcasting

was so competitive. But

Phillips was determined, and

once they knew she'd be OK,

her family was solidly behind

her.

She landed her first professional

broadcasting job when

she was a junior at the State

University College in Buffalo,

N.Y., a midnight to 5 a.m.

radio gig. The job was two

hours away and paid five bucks

an hour, but to Phillips the

effort was worth the payoff in

experience. She also did a television

internship and continued

in radio as a news anchor and

disc jockey a couple of years

after college.

She then became the

youngest on-air TV anchor in

Buffalo, N.Y. After working at

WGRZ-TV there, she went to

Erie, Penn., Rochester, N.Y.,

and then to Reno.

Moving out west was an

adventure a little scary but

mostly exciting. Phillips counts

it as the best career decision

she has made.

The most rewarding parts

of broadcasting, Phillips says,

are reporting good news, such

as stories that honor outstanding

teachers, and making a difference

through such features

as Wednesday's Child. More

than a dozen of the children

featured in the segments have

been placed in permanent

homes for adoption.

The toughest challenges are

reporting tragedies and

remaining objective when hard

stories hit close to home. She

had close friends stationed

overseas during the war with

Iraq, for instance. "It's been

difficult reporting on an explosion,

not knowing where they

were."

Phillips says the keys to success

in any career are determination

and persistence. "With

those, you're capable of anything.

Don't let anyone talk you

out of what you want to do."