By Hannah Osborne
Kim Gusby’s 34 years as a broadcaster were nearly spent as a child psychologist.
“It was a chance encounter with someone I went to school with in Savannah,” says Gusby, who attended Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. “We ran into each other on campus, and she was majoring in broadcasting and she said, ‘You know I think you should take a television class, just take it as an elective.’ I did, and that was that.”
Gusby graduated from Georgia Southern and went back to her hometown of Savannah. For almost four years she worked at the neighboring WJCL, before finding her eventual home at WSAV. Rather than explore different markets, Gusby stayed in her hometown to be close to her family, and her community.
“My grandmother helped my mom raise me, she was a big part of my life. Everytime she would see me on TV it would bring her so much joy,” says Gusby. “Mainly my family kept me locally, and this was the city that raised me.”
Now in her role as a broadcaster, she is able to give back to the community that gave her so much.
“Kim is and always has been a part of our community. And it is because of those deep roots that she has been uniquely positioned to advocate for the communities WSAV serves and to bring context and perspective to editorial decisions and the anchor desk itself,” says David Hart, Vice President and General Manager of WSAV.
Working and reporting in the community that she grew up in turned a career into a passion.
“Being a broadcaster is important to me because I grew up in an era where we didn’t see many women, and very few Black women, on television,” says Gusby.
Not only was it important for people that look like her to see themselves in her success, but people from her background as well.
“I grew up in a community where we didn’t have much at all. It was a community where people are assumed to not be able to make it out. I’m living proof that circumstances may not be ideal, but you don’t allow people or statistics or opinions to determine your fate,” Gusby says. “What keeps me going is the fact that I want to inspire, and continue to inspire other people.”
Gusby’s fate was drawn by a desire to be an actress and a love of writing. Two people gave Gusby the confidence she needed to chase success.
“Believe it or not, growing up I was extremely shy,” says Gusby. “My sixth grade teacher, Mrs. Fletcher, saw something in me that I didn’t see in myself at the time.”
Mrs. Fletcher pushed Gusby to come out of her shell by having her read from the textbook to the whole class.
“I hated it! And now I look back and I’m so grateful for her because now I’m reading out loud, not to a classroom of course, but to thousands of people,” says Gusby.
Although it is not her typical audience, Gusby did recently read to a classroom as a volunteer during “Read United Day.”
Gusby’s interest in writing stemmed from childhood, and as a girl would write plays to have herself and her siblings perform for their family. It was later in life, as she prepared to take the next steps in her academic career, that Gusby realized she could make a career out of it.
“I went through a program when I was in high school for first generation hopefuls called the ‘Upward Bound Program,” Gusby says. “I wrote for the newspaper called the U.B. Express and it was that time when I honed my writing skills. The director at the time, Patrice Davis White, influenced me so much because she told me, ‘You’re a talented writer.’”
The impact of these individuals, and countless others that have guided and supported Gusby through her career, has inspired her to be that support and guidance for others.
“She will be the first to tell you she is successful because others believed in her and poured into her,” says Hart. “Kim tries to pay that forward by mentoring young people and journalists who have started their careers here at WSAV.”
With her love of writing, Gusby is now able to tell the stories of others, stories that otherwise wouldn’t be told. One of these stories is an hour-long Black History special Gusby does each year during February.
“The focus of course is to educate the community on the things that African Americans have done here in our city locally, but in the last couple of years I’ve talked to people who are still here to tell their own stories,” Gusby says.
This year Gusby told the story of James Franklin, the first Black police chief of the Savannah-Chatham County Board of Education.
“If it’s not recorded, it’s not remembered. When I Googled Franklin’s name, I couldn’t find it anywhere!” Gusby says. “He’s 83 years old and still around to tell his story, and I think it’s important to tell diverse stories.”
Gusby has now spent almost 34 years telling impactful stories like this one. In November, she celebrated her 30th consecutive year at WSAV — and that’s a day she won’t soon forget because she soon learned of another reason to celebrate.
“The station was actually having a party for me for my 30th anniversary. My children had flown in from everywhere, and all of the people who I had worked with in the past. Then, my general manager said, ‘I have someone on the phone, he wants to talk to you,’” Gusby says.
The person on the other side of that line was the President of the Georgia Association of Broadcasters, Bob Houghton, delivering the news that Gusby had been selected to join the GAB Hall of Fame.
“That was just the icing on the cake,” says Gusby. “I mean it was such a great day, I thought ‘It can’t get any better!’ And then it got better!”
This celebration did not only commemorate Gusby’s successful career but reflected her impact on the entire WSAV community.
“When we celebrated Kim’s 30th anniversary there were people of all colors and creeds, young and old, affluent and blue collar, all gathered to congratulate Kim and thank her for her decades of service to the community,” says Hart.
Gusby will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame at a ceremony in March.
“We don’t do what we do because we want recognition, we do what we do because this is our passion and we want to make a difference, but it means so much to be recognized and honored by the people in this field for your body of work,” says Gusby.
Along with her mother who lives locally, Gusby’s four children (and two grandchildren) will be flying in from across the country to celebrate her accomplishment.
“My family has been there to lift me up, encourage me and get me to where I am now. I couldn’t have done it without them. Their support means everything,” says Gusby.
In addition to being a member of the GAB Hall of Fame, Gusby is the longest-serving morning news anchor in the Savannah area. In 2019, Gusby founded The Village Scholarship Fund, assisting college-bound high school seniors with limited resources. Other recognitions include the 2019 Outstanding Georgia Citizen award; several AP and Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards; and is a member of the Georgia Southern University Black History Hall of Fame (2015), among others. Gusby was recognized in 2015 as a Silver Circle honoree.
“She embodies so much of what has been and always will be good about local broadcast journalism,” says Hart.
The GAB Hall of Fame induction ceremony will be held at the Emory Conference Center Hotel on March 22, 2024.
