Off-Air with Lin Sue

Career, Kids, Community

by Pragya Pradhan

Between breaking news, high-profile interviews and hard-hitting stories, Channel 12's dark-haired news diva, Lin Sue Cooney, manages to maintain a soft heart, genuine warmth and a focus on home life. This award-winning anchor and mother of four acts on an instinct to serve, and her community spirit is sure to fuel your inspiration even after you've switched off the television.

WORK WISDOM

Born in Taiwan and raised in Montana, Cooney moved to Phoenix 27 years ago when her writing and broadcasting skills, along with her love for stories, landed her an exciting job at Channel 12. "I love the energy, the chase to get the facts and how we present it," she says. "A car wreck is not just a car wreck. It could be the next Jason Schechterle, and look how many people that story touched. So I love stories because you never know what's really behind the other layers and how that might change your world."

News reporting, she says, has changed considerably during her three decades in the industry. Because of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, news is now instant. Hence, news stations no longer wait hours to put news on the air, and this heightens competition. "If it's really big, we've got to cut in--like we did when Michael Jackson died--and go on the air," says Cooney. "As long as we can get the reaction from Janet Jackson first, [viewers] will watch."

While Cooney manages to go home between shows to be with her kids, she falls right back into her newscaster role when she walks into the station--especially for the 10 p.m. news. "Your body just automatically gears up," she says. "It's enough to get my adrenalin going."

In an industry known to be aggressively competitive, Cooney sticks to certain principles and does not approve of sensationalism. "The first thing is to be accurate," she says. "And the other thing is to consider the victim's perspective, because you don't want to exploit [the situation]."

She feels at home with her colleagues and her co-anchor, Mark Curtis. "I tell Mark all the time, 'You're my work husband' and he tells me I'm his 'work wife,'" she says. "I love the camaraderie."

Cooney sometimes finds humor in her challenging job, including one of her own embarrassing on-air experiences. The doors of her studio had been left open to bring in a car for a commercial. A fly got in, and while she was reading the news, it landed right on the tip of her nose. "I'm like, 'Three people died ...'" she says, mimicking waving the fly away. "It was the worst!"

AT HOME

Cooney has undoubtedly put much focus into her career, but her heart speaks of family and faith. "I'm a woman who loves to nest in her home," she says. "I'm a mother, I love being a wife and I am a woman of faith." Cooney has two adult children, Taylor and Zach, and two seven-year-old boys, Seamus and adopted son, Wen.

With her Chinese heritage, she thought China was an ideal place to adopt a child and recalls how quickly the family grew to love Wen. "It was love at first sight," she says. Although born with only one arm, Wen is an athletic and independent child, and Cooney is amazed at how fast he learned the ways of his American family, bonding closely with his brother Seamus. "They think like a married couple," she laughs.

In addition to her children, Cooney is grateful for their "hands-on dad," Sean, who takes care of the children when he's not freelancing as a sports cameraman. "A couple of mornings a week he'll get up really early, feed them, take them to school, and let me sleep in," she says.

Cooney is busy with work and family, but she always manages to look fit and fabulous thanks to a balanced diet ... and good genes. "I eat anything I want. I actually eat more than most men, but I burn more calories than most men, too," she says. "I am blessed; my mom gave me a great metabolism."

Cooney also enjoys crafting with her friends. In fact, she has recently begun selling her "meantobee" handmade pieces online and at boutiques. Crafting, she says, is relaxing after a demanding day.

SERVING THE COMMUNITY

Cooney's caring nature extends well beyond her family and reaches out to the community; particularly women and children. She writes a monthly column for Raising Arizona Kids magazine.

Cooney is also the face of the Buddy Check 12 program for breast cancer awareness. She recalls a recent visit to a close friend who, after being diagnosed with the disease seven years ago, passed away in August of this year. "Everyone has been touched by breast cancer," she says. Since early detection is vital in saving lives, Cooney is particularly thrilled to be part of the Buddy Check 12 program, which sends viewers self-exam reminders each month.

"When you give somebody a tool to save their life, and then they email you or come up to you in public and say, 'I found my lump because of you, and my doctor says I'm alive because of that program' … it's worth your time," she says. "I love the entertainment part of my job, but when someone tells you the information you gave them is the reason they're still here--that's powerful." Cooney is also on the board of directors of the Phoenix Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which empowers Arizonans to conquer breast cancer.

KEEPING IT REAL

Even after years in the limelight as a television news personality, Cooney doesn't take celebrity too seriously. "Well, you're not a celebrity," she says. "You are not acting; you are reading. I love my job, but it is a job. It is what I do, it is not who I am." Although promoting her TV station is part of her job, when she drives by a billboard with her face on it, she says she's somewhat embarrassed and her children love to tease her about it.

Still, Cooney finds her role as an anchor ideal for someone as naturally curious as herself. "There are not a lot of anchor women in their 50s," she says. Although she plans to continue her career into the near future, she sometimes contemplates the time when she will leave broadcasting.

Cooney is sure her inquisitive nature will remain, and there will be new challenges to explore. "I won't cry when it's over because I loved the ride," she says. "And then it will be somebody else's turn."

If she wasn't a news anchor, Cooney says she might open her own store or restaurant, or explore interior design or jewelry making. Teaching is another option. But journalism will always draw her. "It's in your blood, and I don't think it ever goes away," Cooney says. "I am a homebody with an adventurous spirit ... but I wouldn't be myself if I didn't have my career."

Buddy Check 12
Sign up for Buddy Check 12 to receive monthly e-mail updates from Channel 12 on breast cancer health as well as reminders for doing your own self-exam.

REGISTER AT www.azcentral.com/12news/buddycheck

Pragya Pradhan is an Editorial Intern for Phoenix Woman magazine.