Carlos Greer has wanted to be a journalist since he was about 10 years old. His inspiration came after shadowing his church’s drama director, Kim Covington, who also happened to be a St. Louis news anchor. He was completely transformed after that experience. “It was so action-packed, going from news story to news story with her. And I said, this is how I want my day to be when I’m working. So, I got bit by the bug and started exploring journalism and going to broadcasting camps, writing for the school papers,” Greer explained.
Greer now has a flourishing media career. He’s appeared on TV shows such as the “Today” show, “Good Morning America,” “The Wendy Williams Show,” “Extra,” “Access Hollywood,” “Inside Edition” and more. He’s currently a co-host for the nationally syndicated pop-culture gossip show, “Page Six TV,” alongside Bevy Smith and Elizabeth Wagmeister. The program airs across many FOX stations.
We talked to Greer to learn more about his new show, that’s now in its second season, how he became an “overnight success” and also the advice he’d give to aspiring journalists about breaking into the industry.
How did you get involved with “Page Six TV”?
I’ve only been writing for the column for three years, and the show has been in development for about the same amount of time. There were auditions, we did our test run for three weeks in eight of the Fox TV-owned and operated markets. We got picked up and last year we premiered, and now we’re in season two.
Tell us about season two of “Page Six TV,” which is a half-hour daily pop culture program modeled after the highly acclaimed “Page Six” column in the iconic New York Post gossip column and website. Season two premiered on Monday Sept. 17. What can we expect this season?
The format has changed from the first season. Three are three co-hosts now, me, Bevy [Smith] and Elizabeth [Wagmeister], and at the risk of sounding cheesy, it really is fun! It’s like a family type of thing, which you would never really expect, given the diversity between the three of us. Bev is older, I’m in-between, Elizabeth is younger, she’s from Calabasas, [California], Bevy’s Harlem, I’m from the Midwest and have been in New York for over 15 years. And I’ve known Bevy for a while. But we’ve grown closer just from working together. We would bump into each other a lot at different events in New York City, now we work together every single day. And it’s fun because you’re literally gabbing with your friends. That’s how it feels.
For me, I’m reporting on a lot of topics, and I still write for the column, so I’m juggling two jobs. But it’s easy because I’m literally sitting at a table, with Elizabeth, with Bevy, talking about topics you want to talk about. It’s a pop-culture gossip show.
There’s a lot to pulling together one show. You have to talk about up-to-date news that happened “today”, so how do you prepare for each show?
A lot goes in to it. We have our producers that work around the clock, and also, I’m an actual journalist. I write for Page Six the column, so a lot of the content is my reporting. Elizabeth is a writer at Variety, so a lot of the content is also her reporting. And Bevy is on the scene, in the streets all the time. So, it works. You bring all that together and it makes the preparation even easier.
But in terms of tougher stories, when you get a really solid scoop, like on our season premiere, I broke the story about Julie Chen leaving The Talk, so when you have a really solid source, you pick up the phone and start making your calls, and you do the reporting like any other reporter. So, there’s a lot of reporting. There’s a lot of work that goes into it.
Your co-hosts are amazing! All of your on-air synergy is crazy cool. Does that synergy carry over into real-life as well?
We literally text each other all day. Elizabeth is my little sister. She just moved to New York for the show, she’s from LA. Bevy is our big sister. I hang out with Bevy, I was with Elizabeth the other night. So, we actually do hang out with each other. On Thursday’s we leave the studio, we have our little cocktails, and it’s even more fun off set. That’s exactly how it is: what you see on TV. It’s fun.
For all of the aspiring, and also more experienced broadcast journalists out there, what great piece of advice do you have for them in breaking into the industry?
You have to be curious. I always tell students, and even non-students that I speak to that you have to be extremely curious. You have to know the news, you have to know your industry. Wake up, pick up a newspaper, read magazines. And if you are an aspiring student, meet everybody that you want to meet in your industry. The worst that someone can tell you is no, so don’t be afraid to pick up the phone or shoot that email. Be persistent, be curious would be the best advice. And write! I think writing is important, even if you’re aspiring to be an on-air talent. It’s important to know how to tell a story and to listen.
What would you tell aspiring journalists about receiving feedback?
One thing about this industry is that there are so many opinions, especially when you’re on air. You’re going to hear so many different things from every type of person, whether there are people telling you that you’re great or people telling you that you’re horrible. So, you have to have a really strong sense of self in order to receive both positive and negative feedback. So, I think confidence goes a very long way.
