How An Award Winning Journalist Reinvents Herself Through Podcasting with Deborah Kobylt

Cold Open On Paying Dues

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Because you knew what you were doing. But it was early on in my career, with those little small towns, I'd have to go from small town to pay my dues. That's where I had a lot of situations where I was in Salisbury, Maryland, for only three months at a job because all I wanted to do was get out. But I just took the first job I could get in broadcasting. And the guy there said, You look too ethnic. Go dye your hair and come back on Monday. That would not apply today. One of the best places to learn the craft.

SPEAKER_00 0:28

Welcome

Welcome And Deborah’s Career Highlights

SPEAKER_00 0:29

to the Heart of Show Business. I am your host, Alexia Melocchi. I believe in great storytelling and that every successful artist has a deep desire to express something from the heart to create a ripple effect in our society. Hello to all my listeners of The Heart of Show Business. I think this is going to be my season's finale because it feels like this specific guest has to be the one who ends my season because she's such an amazing human being and powerful woman. I am so blessed to have her on my show. My guest today, actually, is Deborah Deborah Cobilt. She's an award-winning journalist. She's a broadcaster and she's the host of the popular podcast, Deborah Colt Live, and also the Little Italy podcast. And I was so blessed and honored to be on her show. And she asked me the most incredible questions, and she really did the research on me, like many people don't do, but you know, she knows what she's doing. She won awards for a reason. In fact, over the course of her career, Deborah has worked for CNN, for KCal9 News, Fox 11, Turner Entertainment. She's interviewed newsmakers, celebrities, business leaders, cultural influences. She also covered Donald Trump, by the way, during the Atlantic City years, long before he entered politics. She's also a recipient of multiple Los Angeles press club nominations that's built a career defined by curiosity, adaptability, and a passion for storytelling. So today I'm turning the tables on her so that we get to explore her journey, the lessons learned, the obstacles, the whole thing, but also how rapidly the media landscape is changing today. So welcome to my show, Deborah. Oh my goodness, what an introduction. I'm really quite honored. I don't even know who that is, but thank you very much. We were just talking offline about this. We're girls, girls. So we we're here about lifting each other up, empowering one another, and supporting one another. So, in fact, as I go into your incredible career, I wanted to ask you, what was the defining moment that shaped you as a journalist and as a woman?

Curiosity As A Calling

SPEAKER_01 2:46

There were a few of them. I don't think there was one, but I'm gonna start really young, like at the age of five. I remember with mom, and all I would say, you know, we'd drive by something and she'd say, Oh, this and that. I'd say, why? And then I'd look over there and say, why? And then and what I'm getting at is I think I was born to do this, right? Because I was always very curious. If you go into the world and go into anything and you're really curious and you need to know what's the story behind it, I'm pretty sure that's what did it. I loved to write when I was a little kid. I would write stories, little short stories and stuff like that. And I ended up studying English literature and art history in college, but I took a couple of journalism courses and I was hooked. And it was print journalism, actually, that I started in. I actually prefer that to broadcasting because it's just me and pen, paper, or now the iPad or the computer, and nothing gets in between. And I really enjoyed that. And I could tell somebody else's story because I thought there's everybody's got one. So I would say my early inspiration was when I was a really little kid, driving my mom a little nuts.

SPEAKER_00 3:49

I love what you said that you were asking why. It sounds like my mom. My mom is always like, why? But this is it, but why? Like, why figure it out? So I love that because you were quite an inquisitive young lady, it's just what you know brought you to the career in journalism. So interesting.

Sexism In Early Local News

SPEAKER_00 4:07

But you are in a male-dominated media world, which obviously, well, I mean, hello, Diane Sawyer. There's obviously some fabulous women who still are, you know, masters at interviewing Barbara Walters and everything, but and we've seen the movies, of course, about the male domination in media. So, but for you, what was the obstacle that you had to overcome ultimately in your career in journalists doing CNN and covering all the major news moments in our recent, well, we're not gonna say how many decades. What was the thing that made you stronger as a woman?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Well, it started pretty much in the 90s, right? Late 80s, early 90s. And I will tell you when I finally got to what we'd call the big leagues, right? The KCal9 News, Fox 11, CNN in particular, that was terrific because people sort of left you alone. They figured you knew what you were doing. But it was early on in my career, with those little small towns, I'd have to go from small town to pay my dues. That's where I had a lot of situations where I was in Salisbury, Maryland for only three months at a job because all I wanted to do was get out. But I just took the first job I could get in broadcasting. And the guy there said, You look too ethnic, go dye your hair and come back on Monday. That would not fly today, right? Luckily, I got a job three months after that in Atlantic City, and that was one of the best places to learn the craft. The stars would come through, the share would come through, you get an opportunity on this little tiny station to interview people like that. And it was a place where not a lot of people were watching, so you could make your mistakes and grow from there, you know. And then from there, I ended up on actually working in New York for a very short time at NETAN, which is also in New Jersey. So my early career, yeah, it just seemed like the smaller the station, the smaller the mind in terms of how they would treat people and women in particular. I had to get through it. If you ask me if it made me stronger, I'm gonna tell you this. No, it was a nuisance to me to have to dance around those people. I just wanted to do my work. I was very driven, and I just really didn't have time in my life to have to push people away. So that's a real honest answer about it. I could have done without it. I think there's less of it now because more people have spoken out. There was a lot. You get a knock on the door in your hotel room, and you're thinking, be quiet, pretend you're not here, that kind of a thing. It irritated me, and I could have done without it. I just wanted to do my work and tell somebody else's story and not have all stuff in between, but I endured it.

Interviewing Politicians With A Human Lens

SPEAKER_00 6:39

Do you enjoy interviewing the people in politics or business more than the artists? Or do you or you don't care?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Because we have all kinds, right? Because it's my own show. One reason why I love doing podcasting is because nobody really has to tell me what to do, right? When you go to work every day and you're doing the news, the latest tragedy or car chase, but with a podcast, I can decide who is important to me to have on my show. I love the fact that now I can choose what I do. Do I enjoy interviewing politicians? Yes, they're the ones who will be shaping the cities, towns, and state and country ultimately that we live in. And it's important. So, yes, I very much do. And I try and put a human spin on those people as well, but it's important to really hear.

SPEAKER_00 7:26

Which brings me to one of the most spun-around personalities of our time, certainly of our decade, which is our current president, Donald

Lessons From Covering Trump

SPEAKER_00 7:34

Trump. I know you covered him during the Atlantic City years. What did that experience teach you about power, ambition, and public perception?

SPEAKER_01 7:44

I learned a lot about him. And it was about him. When he walked into a room, it was about him. When he walked into one of his casinos, charisma, where people were drawn to him, the slot machine, they got up and they ran after him just to kind of be near him. And I thought that's something that doesn't appeal to me as a person. And it was a bit of his swagger. It was his ego, really. Food court. When he goes, You want to go up and down the elevator? I thought, okay, this guy knows what he's doing. And he goes, I want to show you the new food court. It's the biggest, it's the best, it's the most unbelievable. And I thought, my goodness, this guy has an ego. But I played into it because I wanted to get the story, right? And by playing into it, I was out to earn his trust so that I could then ask him the questions I wanted to ask him. So that proved to be very valuable to me throughout my career, whether I was interviewing him, whether I was interviewing Mr. Forbes in New York or whoever it was, kind of disarm people so that they feel comfortable talking to me and then go in there with a question that I really want to ask. And we're we're already recording. So they have to answer it. So it's actually that's what I learned early on in my career.

SPEAKER_00 8:48

Dang, I wish you would have had that footage so you can play it over social media. That would have been I have it.

SPEAKER_01 8:54

You have it, I've got to dig it out of my archives, but I do have it. It's somewhere. I have a lot of footage because then they put me on Trump watch, go figure. It's not necessarily something I wanted to do, but because he would answer my questions and everybody would say, Oh, it's because you were a young girl. And he never did anything, thank God. And I mean nothing, but he would answer my questions. So I think he figured out that I could figure him out, yeah, and he played the game back. So would I have ever predicted he would become president? Absolutely. I would have. I just figured he could do anything then and he believes it now, and he still does, and he still gets away with so much. I'm stunned when I watch what happens every day. But same guy then, you know, as he is today, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 9:38

How fascinating. And I love what you said about trusting your instinct because obviously, when you wanted to interview him, you followed an instinct. Obviously, now you get to follow your instinct every single time because you're running your own show. Back then, was there some situation, interview, news coverage, something that you wanted to trust your instinct, and others disagree with you, but you still went for it all the time.

SPEAKER_01 10:04

And I'm trying to think of anything specific. It actually happens quite a bit. Oh, I have a story for

Trust, Tactics, And Getting Answers

SPEAKER_01 10:09

you. I was out cover with my cameraman. I believe I was at either Fox or K Cal 9 at the time, and there was a shooting going on. I think it was at Magic Mountain, I don't recall exactly where, but it was here in LA. And we were doing a live shot for the 10 o'clock news. And as I'm on the air, we had to turn our lights off because people were coming out of there screaming, and you could still hear gunshots. And I'm thinking, I'm gonna get hurt here. But as it was happening, we didn't want to attract anybody. So my cameraman turned his lights down. And when my live shot was finished, my producer said in my ear, that was incredible. We're gonna do it again in 10 minutes. I looked at my cameraman and he goes, We're out of here. So my instinct was to say, sure. But we down came the satellite on the truck. We bolted out of there. In other words, I didn't want to get hurt. There was a live shooting happening right behind me. So that was my instinct to say, no, if you fight him about it, then you're disagreeable and hard to deal with. So in preserving my own safety and my cameraman's safety, we bolted out of there. So there's an example of my own instinct to of survival. But it's happened so many times on the job, honestly.

SPEAKER_00 11:22

And I went on on diplomacy because that was a great way of handling. You didn't argue, didn't say I'm not gonna do it. You just smile this and then I'm out of there.

SPEAKER_01 11:31

That's the best way to handle it. It was actually my cameraman. He goes, I got kids to go home to. I didn't have kids at the time. It was early on in my career here in LA. And he goes, I got kids to go home to. We're out. And I'm like, I'm with you. A lot of that kind of thing has happened in my career, quite frankly. You just have to use your instinct to what you think is right, whether it's how you ask someone a question or when do you break into somebody's office? I don't mean literally, but you bust in and ask a question. I've had to do stuff like that too. Hard news was challenging. I enjoyed it, but I got tired of it because it was almost traumatic every day coming home and the latest tragedy, the latest it was a lot. When I made the decision, I have three boys and I my children were young, and I said, Yeah, I don't really know if I want to continue doing this and being away at 11 o'clock at night or 10 o'clock. And fortunately, podcasting was just around the corner. I decided to start doing that.

SPEAKER_00 12:22

Yeah, and you know what? It's interesting because that leads me to my next question, which is perfect, Seg, you and I vibe. I love it. Always, always we're talking about instincts, and obviously the media has changed so much over the years. And I guess you use your instinct to stay relevant by doing your own podcast. What how do people do that? You obviously did that. Was that something that just came into your mind and you just woke up

Instinct, Safety, And Hard News

SPEAKER_00 12:49

one day and say, you know what? I'm gonna reinvent myself, I'm gonna reinvent that brand, I'm gonna do a podcast. Was it enough time for you to stay relevant, or was it just something that you were passionate about, or it was a combination of both?

SPEAKER_01 13:01

Well, my kids were in middle school and high school, and I knew that the day was gonna come where they were all gonna be going to high school to college. And I, you know, I'm very immersed into my kids' lives. I am an Italian mama. So the thought of them going off to college and me having sort of nothing to really do was already getting to me. So I thought, well, what can I do? And really the only thing I know to do is ask people questions. And podcasting was just starting. This is almost about 10 years ago, not quite, but about 10 years ago when it was becoming to be something that was popular. And two broadcasting friends of mine from LA, Anna Garcia, and she does a very popular crime podcast currently, and my other dear friend, Dorothy Lucy, and she was on Fox 11. She was one of the morning people on there with Steve Edwards and Julian Barbary. And we were friends, and we're like, well, let's do something. So we did a podcast called Deborah, Dorothy, and Anna. I don't know how that came about in that order, but it just kind of sounded better. Deborah, Dorothy, and Anna. And we just played around with it. We just showed up and called friends. We didn't know what we were doing, but I liked it. I was the one showing up every week. I had an idea of an author, my notes, and they're like Deborah, really. So I decided to go off and do it on my own. Dorothy eventually was in and out of doing her own podcast. And Anna, of course, has that popular crime podcast. So that's kind of how it started. It was the three of us. Oh, and then another friend of mine, Linda Huffman, we she was a former CNN reporter, a colleague of mine. Then we teamed up, and then she also had a full-time job. So I thought, you know, I'm probably better off doing it myself. I can make my own decisions, interview who I want. So that was kind of the evolution of podcasting. I love the fact that I could have on, as you said, a politician. I could have on my husband, who is a pretty well-known radio guy. I could have on authors. I love authors, or a newsmaker, somebody like yourself, who's doing incredible work, not just the work you do, but also as a woman, as a leader. So they say in podcasting you should pick a lane. I haven't really picked that lane.

Why Podcasting Felt Like Freedom

SPEAKER_01 15:06

I it's a wider lane, and I decided whatever interests me as a woman, hopefully it will interest someone else. So that's the lane I chose.

SPEAKER_00 15:14

And I love your lane because that's my lane, too, as you know. Yeah, my own podcast. And I love what you said. And thank you for the kind words, by the way. And yes, you are a true Italian mama. I see all your pictures going to your son's baseball games, so you always show up, you're always going, No, I can't see you today. I'm going to my son's game. And I think that's amazing. And it feels like you were running your own little view on podcasting with your with your anchor friends at the beginning. And I speaking of Italian, I know you have an Italian heritage. How has that influenced you with how you connect with people and just in general storytelling?

SPEAKER_01 15:52

It's everything to me. My Italian heritage is everything. I'm born in America, but my parents were all in on being Italian. I know just about all of my family out in Italy. We're from southern Italy, just east of Naples, at a very small mountain village called Manol Casati and San Barbato. And I've gotten to know my family there very well. My family then came to the United States by way of New Jersey. So most of my relatives, and there's so many of them that my kids, and we would go back and visit, would say, How do you remember their names? Because they didn't grow up with a lot of family out here, but I did. And it's everything to me. And I always joke that on any given night, and on any given night, it could be a Monday night, Uncle Maddie would show up and he would bring something, and somehow an eggplant would appear. It was a typical traditional Italian hell household slash Italian American household, people talking all the time, cooking all the time, and it made sense. But as I got older, it made a lot of sense to me. And when my parents passed away, not too long ago, but actually it's getting up there, it devastated me. It was very hard for me. And I really dug even deeper into my Italian roots over in Italy. And I know you know this about me to this day. I'm still trying to master the language.

SPEAKER_00 17:10

But what do you learn about? Because obviously you have to go to all these events for networking, for PR, for your podcast. How do you balance your successful career, both of you, and also successful relationship?

SPEAKER_01 17:23

Yeah, but don't want to sugarcoat it, okay? He's a talk show host, and they can be, they've got their opinions on stuff. So I'll push back and I'll be like, hey, wait a minute. He's got a strong personality, certainly stronger than when I met him, and he barely even had his voice. He was trying to figure it out. So it's not always, oh my God, how amazing. We're like such a power couple. It's like, hey, stay in your lane sometimes. So, you know, I don't want to just sugarcoat it that we're like showing up and the perfect little couple. It's got its challenges, like anything and anybody, believe me.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

I'm sure. Going back to journalism, obviously, there's been so much going on with the media and the attacks on the media, the sensor sensorization. Oh my God, I don't know how to say that word of the media about what's being relevant because obviously everybody's competing for airtime. So is there any hope for the future of journalism today?

SPEAKER_01 18:14

What do you think? Well, I could tell you this because I have many friends who work in local news, who work in network news. It's shrinking because primarily who's sitting on the couch at six at night, at 10 at night, or 11. It's usually older people. And as that starts to wane, I think younger people are consuming the news as they want to consume it. They've got their apps, they go online. In a way, I find it a little refreshing. It's a balance. I find it refreshing because we can consume what we want, not just what some producer tells you is important. In fact, I find a lot of what people are covering is not important. It's usually the latest crime of the day. And then I end up being sequestered in my house because I'm too scared to go out. There's so much great stuff going on, and especially let's just talk our city throughout our city that we don't cover it enough. It's never really been the way news is handled. So, in a way, I really do think it's a good thing that you can choose how you want to consume. And really, that's how I look at it. I think things come and go in a way, and the local news, network news will always be there. It'll just be less bodies watching it, is what I think. And I actually think the new way is exciting. We know that recently there have been elections in Los Angeles and in the state of California. They've been challenging and everybody's got their opinion on it. And I enjoy watching and listening to everybody's opinion. I really do, as opposed to just watching one point of view. Although we do have that on cable news. You've got one point of view and then the other, which I don't really care about their opinions. That's another thing. I don't care about opinion pieces.

Italian Roots And Personal Resilience

SPEAKER_01 19:46

That to me is not journalism. Journalism is when you try and just put a spotlight on what's happening and let the story tell itself.

SPEAKER_00 19:53

That's, I think, to me the biggest fault. Like you said, instead of just telling the story in a neutral way and doing a balance between good things and bad things and things in the middle, it's always let's bombard you with all the tragedies and all the bad stuff that is happening. And then I think that's why people are tuning out.

SPEAKER_01 20:09

Frankly, it's a good thing that we have podcasts and different audio versions of what there's a lot of people out there doing guerrilla journalism. In other words, they've got their microphone, their phone, and they're going out and just doing it on what they find is important and they're really catching on. So that's a great thing from all perspectives. So that's a good thing.

SPEAKER_00 20:25

Yeah, I'm loving the social media new thing about the man on the street because you know, everybody's going out and asking people, you know, what makes you confident? And they go and ask a ton of people, or what are you wearing? I think it's great because again, the man on the street, that's how journalism started in so many ways, if we think about it. As a woman, you know, and you and I have talked about uh lifting each other up and and supporting one another. What would you tell to a woman who's building a career and trying to find her own voice and sometimes uh questioning whether they belong in the room? What would you say to them?

SPEAKER_01 21:01

Well, we spoke a little bit off camera. It doesn't matter when they when you start to question, don't use your instinct, use what you believe, what matters to you. There's always going to be somebody out there who's going to criticize you in many ways. The work you're doing, the way you look, it doesn't matter. And it takes a long time for us, right, as women, to figure out it doesn't matter. And what matters is the people who do support you. Listen to their opinions if you want one. But the people who don't, they're probably never really going to come on your side. I don't even give them the I don't really pay them any notice because if they want to, you know, talk to me, enjoy what I'm doing, or add to it, be a part of it, that's great. But there's always, you know, a lot of folks out there, especially women, who um aren't doing that. I never really understood why. I'll tell you why, because there's always somebody richer, poorer, better,

The Future Of Journalism And Noise

SPEAKER_01 21:54

smarter, prettier. So what? Like, I don't get that. Like, there's always Somebody who has that above you. Learn from them. Figure if there's something they have that you want, I'll look at that and think, I wonder how they did that. And then I'm I'm actually very happy for them if they have success, because it would never take away from mine. You could end up winning 10 awards tomorrow. And I'd be so happy from you, for you, because it would have nothing to do if I had any awards at all, right? That's your story. And I have mine. So, women, please just support each other or stay out of somebody's way. That's what I have to say. It took me a long time to realize that, right? We all want the approval, especially if we're getting snubbed. We wonder why. I don't wonder anymore. I really don't. Or I try not to. People are attracted to that. The more you've done that in particular, the more I want to hear from you because that's very authentic. And that really matters to people. People like authenticity. Here's another thing. I never cared about, oh my God, how many people are looking or watching. If I have a small audience, great. If I have a giant audience, great. I do it because whoever gets some information out of it and learns by it, that's good for me. I've never gone into journalism to be this thing. I got into journalism to tell a story.

SPEAKER_00 23:09

I'm gonna ask you in true actor studio fashion, two questions. In your darkest moments, is there a life mantra, something that you tell yourself, that you tell yourself to center yourself again and get yourself into the other side, taking care of things.

SPEAKER_01 23:28

And I just give it up. I just say, you know, I'm doing my best. So those are the things that really help keep me grounded when I feel like everything is I'm losing control in a way, because I think control is something that is important to me. And sometimes you can't do that, you gotta let it go. Three words to describe me. Is that what you're saying? Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. Oh boy. Curious. I really am curious. I'm curious about everything. Sensitive. I feel things, I feel people's stuff. If somebody's hurting, I really feel it. Maybe that's empathy. I don't know. And gosh, I don't want to use the word grateful because that's that is overused, but I guess try to stay positive. That's more than one word. Because there is a lot that we can look at every day. You can look at it and have things that are happening in your life bring you down, or you look at them and realize how lucky we are, that we are all lucky. We're lucky that we can breathe air that's fresh. I'm so aware that's a spoofy, but it's true. People have it really hard in the world, and you learn that as being a journalist.

SPEAKER_00 24:29

It's been such a pleasure to have you on my show. And for everybody who's listening, read the show notes, check out all the links. You're gonna get to see some amazing interviews that Deborah is doing on YouTube and obviously your favorite pop player. She's on iHeartRadio, of course. And she has two podcasts, Deborah Cobio Life and Little Italy podcast. They're both super interesting. And make sure

Advice For Women And Final Thoughts

SPEAKER_00 24:51

you follow her on social media because she she goes places that are incredibly interesting, she shares a lot, and as as I share, and I feel that in today's world we need more transparent reporting. And Deborah certainly does that in her life and as a woman and as a journalist. So hats off to you. It's been great to have you on my show. And uh yeah, thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

Thank you for inviting me. Really, I very rarely do interviews because having the tables turned for me is a challenge, right? But I got through it, so thank you. You made it very easy. So thank you so much. Imagine that. Somebody who will interview almost anybody. I've interviewed presidents, and but will you interview me? It's wait, what? You want to ask me a question? See, I gotta get used to that, Alexia. So thank you. That's because of you.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Thank you. You're so very welcome. And I had a little bit of, oh my gosh, she's gonna be judging me now.

SPEAKER_01 25:42

She's not a serious journey. What kind of questions is she asking? But you know what? See what we do start. Yeah, oh my god. I'm grateful that we're friends too, Alexia. I really am. We've gotten to know each other, and I really admire you. I really do. So thank you.

SPEAKER_00 25:56

As do I, and since I have almost a half Italian, 90% Italian, some percentage Italian, I'm gonna say this is the heart of show business, over and out. And ciao! Ciao Bella, ciao. Thank you for listening to this week's episode of The Heart of Show Business. If you enjoyed it, please share it with a friend. You can also subscribe, rate, and review the show on your favorite podcast player. If you have any questions or comments or feedback for us, you can reach me directly at theheartofshowbusiness.com.