EDITORIAL: Anchor away: Paula Francis signs off on brilliant career

In an ever-changing media landscape, where new faces regularly come and go and corporate letterheads have shifted dramatically, KLAS-Channel 8 anchorwoman Paula Francis is a fixed North Star.

Ms. Francis recently announced her retirement, effective April 1, after 30 years reporting and anchoring the the news in Southern Nevada. It's fair to say all of Las Vegas is going to miss her.

There's plenty of mistrust of the media these days, some of it deserved. But Ms. Francis, 63, was always the epitome of credibility, class and passion for her craft and the city in which she practiced it. Her special emphasis on health care issues introduced viewers to reams of useful, potentially life-saving information. And her friendly, compassionate presentation made it feel as if you were meeting an old friend for coffee rather than watching a news broadcast.

We're sad to say that Ms. Francis is part of a very small fraternity of journalists who have treated Las Vegas as home, rather than a way station to bigger markets. (Think longtime anchors such as Jim Snyder of KSNV, KLAS's own Dave Courvoisier and George Knapp, and the Review-Journal's John L. Smith and Jane Ann Morrison.) Ms. Francis is one of the very few who've spent the time to know the city well enough to explain it to viewers and visitors alike. That kind of knowledge and experience can only be gained by a commitment to a place, and Ms. Francis has certainly shown hers to Las Vegas.

Ms. Francis recently told the Review-Journal's Christopher Lawrence of a humbling start in Las Vegas: She worked briefly at Channel 13, but was fired before her contract expired. Quickly hired at Channel 8, she never left, becoming one of the most admired and trusted figures in the community. (Review-Journal readers regularly pick her as best female news anchor in the newspaper's Best of Las Vegas survey.)

"Paula had plenty of offers to go to different places. But this was her home. … And I think people recognized that," said Bob Stoldal, former news director for Channel 8.

That combination — high name recognition and favorability — led some to try to recruit Ms. Francis into running for office. But she steadfastly avoided politics to stick with her first love, covering the news.

To be sure, the Review-Journal is a competitor with television news, and with Channel 8 in particular. We'd prefer to be the most trusted source for news in the valley. But Ms. Francis is a leader in an organization that keeps all of us in media working hard to break stories. That benefits all readers and viewers in the valley. Competition is good.

"I never thought I would have a career on-air this long," Ms. Francis told Mr. Lawrence. "And I think that says a lot about the viewers more than me. It says that they want someone who knows something about the town they live in, and that a few wrinkles don't bother them, which is great."

It's almost impossible to think of Channel 8's newscast without Ms. Francis on the anchor desk. And viewers will miss more than her friendliness and professionalism when she finally signs off — they'll miss the hard-won credibility built up over decades covering Las Vegas' stories. That's not something that can be replaced easily, if at all.

We wish Ms. Francis a happy retirement, and thank her for her many years of service to Las Vegas residents.