FMC Fast Chat: Dishing on Food & News with New York News Icon Rosanna Scotto

FMC Fast Chat takes you inside the news so you can be in the know in 30 minutes. Hosted by Fair Media Council CEO and Executive Director Jaci Clement, Fast Chat features notables in news, media, and business.

Hi everybody, thank you for joining us. I'm Jaci Clement, and joining me today— I am so excited— is New York news legend Rosanna Scotto, who also happens to be an old friend. Rosanna, Thank you so much for joining us today.

Jaci, I love that you said old friend. Maybe like drop the old, but the friend part is good. But yeah, fair enough.

I feel the same way. But maybe later on we should talk about the deal you made with the devil because you look younger than ever and I want to know how that's possible.

Um, it's difficult.

But honestly, I mean, you have been a really good friend for a long time now and we appreciate all the help and support you've given us over the years, both me personally Personally, and on behalf of the Fair Media Council. But we want to talk to you today. You know, I think let's start with right now and work our way backwards. Right now you have a new project out. You put out what some people would call a cookbook, but I think it's a lot more than that. So tell us about this.

I just happen to have it. Thanks, Jaci.

You've done this before, I see.

It's called Meatballs, Manja, and Memories. And as you can see, it's a few generations there. Mama in the middle, my sister Elena, her son Danny, and my daughter Jenna. And it's a memoir book. So we did it, you know, so much. Everybody's gone through so much the last few years. This was our way of kind of like remembering the past, but also moving, moving it forward. And it's, you know, we do have 100, over 100 recipes in here. We share it all. We don't leave out an ingredient. And, you know, good times.

All right. Don't wanna miss on this one question, which is very important, which is how do you make a good meatball?

Well, what we do, which we think is the key, is we soak panko breadcrumbs in milk, and that gives it the delicious moisture in the meatballs so they're not golf balls. Now, I know you love to play golf. Long Island has great golf courses. We like our meatballs to be nice and moist and not to be used on the golf course.

Okay, fair enough, and a great point there. So tell me though, when you were growing up, how much did food mean to you and your family?

Um, food really is kind of the heart and soul. It was the gatherer of everybody in good times and bad. You know, we love food, and it was spent in the kitchen with family cooking, sharing memories, making memories. And Sundays we still do this great big dinner that actually starts at about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and could go on for several hours. But it's a time even our kids love it now, and they know that you cannot miss a Sunday meal. And it's difficult, because, as you know, Jackie, nobody works 9 to 5 anymore. Nobody works Monday through Friday, and, and Sundays, which used to be a sacred day in most families. Now you're, you know, the kids have baseball practice, or whatever, or who's working. You really have to find that time to just make everything stop and come together as a family.

Yeah. Now, who cooks in your family? On those Sundays?

Well, my dad used to do the Sunday sauce, so we've kind of taken that up. My son gets mad at me. He's like, you really did not sit down with Dad and get the correct recipe. But I will tell you, there were plenty of mornings because we share this house out, out on Long Island, and my dad would start at 8 o'clock in the morning, you know, cutting the onions and the garlic, and he would simmer the sauce for hours. And that's part of like, I think the secret is just like simmering it. And so Dad cooks, Mom would make the chicken, I would make some vegetables, my sister would come over and make, you know, the salad. We all kind of chipped in because, you know, we grew to be a big family. It's not like years ago where Mom would do all the cooking, you know. Nobody can take on that project anymore. Everybody's busy, you know. So I think when you have everybody kind of be a part of that, that great meal, I think you appreciate it a little bit more.

Yeah, I think it tastes better too, right?

It does.

It really does.

And I'm telling you, like, the kids love it now. You know, if we skip a Sunday meal, they're like, what? We're not having everybody over? We're not having Sunday sauce? You know, God forbid you like decide to make fish that day. What?

Yeah. Now, one of the things you mentioned, though, is the fact that everybody is working or they're super busy. You, young lady, are always just out there. I don't understand, well, one, where you get your energy from. I think you and Ernie Anastas may be 2 of the hardest working people I know because you're just always on and working and you're just not slowing down. How do you do this?

Well, Jaci, thank you. And it takes one to know one. I know you're very busy as well. So, and Ernie, we love Ernie. He's the best. Positively Ernie.

Yes.

I take— I think I have a lot of energy from my mom. I don't require a lot of rest, although I'm very disciplined with my time. I've grown to like really learn how to prioritize. But I think in this new world, you have to constantly be changing and evolving. You can't be doing the same thing that you did 5 years ago. or even last year. And so hence the cookbook, hence social media. I have my own platform, @rosannascotto. And then during COVID my sister and I started Scotto Sisters on Instagram as a way to engage my parents who were locked down in their apartment, afraid to even open up a window. And then we grew our community. From there, we do a live Instagram show at 4:30. We used to do it 5 days a week during COVID but now we do it twice a week, usually Monday and Wednesday. And, you know, it's a way to kind of, well, just engage the people that follow us, get to know them a little bit better. They've been great supporters at the restaurant. You know, our family has Fresco by Scotto in Midtown Manhattan. We closed down twice during COVID We opened up We had to close down. Obviously everybody closed down in March of 2020. We tried to reopen in September of 2020 with an outdoor. It didn't really work. We closed back down in December of 2020. And during that time, my sister and I kind of brainstormed like we had to reimagine the restaurant. It was not gonna work unless we did. So we hired a party planner. From Long Island. Lawrence Scott Events. And we said to him, we have to make this a destination restaurant. Nobody was in Midtown. People were still not back. They were hanging out on Long Island or Florida, and we had to give them a reason to come back. So we created this gorgeous backyard that's kind of reminiscent of Capri. with lemon trees. And in the wintertime, we put lights up around the holidays. We make it look like it's, you know, Brooklyn. I think we're better than Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. And we change it seasonally. We have heaters during the wintertime, but we also incorporated that look in our restaurant. And we have a DJ. So we, we had to reimagine in 2021, and it's still going strong in 2023. Thank God. We're open 5 days a week. We were open pre-pandemic 6, but now we're back to 5, partially because of, you know, supply chain and, and workers and people not being in the city as much as they were. But we do notice those 5 days were very, very busy, Tuesday through Saturday.

Okay. Now you have— I checked right before we went on together. You have over 100,000 Instagram followers at this point.

I do.

Many of them have come into the restaurant. How many more need to come?

We're, we're open for more Instagram followers at Rosanna Scotto, Scotto Sisters, and of course we will accommodate everybody at Fresco by Scotto. But it's funny, you know, when we first reopened— well, when we reopened the second time, so many of our Scotto Sisters and Rosanna Scotto followers came in to support, because They were with us on the journey of trying to get our business up and running. Everybody could relate to that. Everybody was going through that, and we shared our family experiences as well. So they were part of it, and they wanted to meet us in person. And, you know, there were some times where, like, the Scotto sisters organized lunches and dinners, and they all come in and we have a good time.

Well, that's good to hear. But one of the things that has always amazed me about you is when you walk into a room, whether it's here on the island or in the city, you know everyone in the room. You go up to them, you welcome them, you say their name. I am horrible at remembering names and matching names with faces. I can remember faces. How do you do it?

Jaci, I'm not always perfect, but, you know, a lot of these people, especially who are part of the Folio Council, I've known them over the years. So it's kind of— they're ingrained in my memory. A lot of great experiences with them over the years. Working the business over 30 years at Fox 5, you get to know these people. I'm very involved in the community, very involved in a number of charities. So I see them. I see them a lot. I'm not one of those people who stays home very much. So I get to see a lot of people.

All right, actually walk us through what your average day is like. When do you get up?

I get up at 4:30 in the morning, uh, shower, put on clothes, uh, hair's crazy, no makeup, go to work, 5:15 meeting, it's usually over at 6, um, and then I read what I need to read for the day, um, hair and makeup, and on the air at 7 o'clock, 7 to 10. We have newsmakers, everybody from the mayor to local politicians to Dr. Fauci to— last week was Jim Dolan, the head of MSG, which we made a lot of news with. And it's not always over at 10:00 in the morning. Sometimes we do post-tapes, then there's charities, then there's this drop by the restaurant, then there's maybe a little fitness in there. And then there's, you know, we try to get in a little family time and then prepare for the next day.

It's amazing. It really is. It just sounds like a marathon each day.

It can be a marathon. It can be a marathon. And by the end of the week, I'm pretty much cross-eyed. Like, I'm like, oh my God, I'm so tired. I don't even remember my name. But I, I am so fortunate to have this job and so privileged to meet all these people, whether they're famous or not. That I'm, I'm grateful for this opportunity every single morning.

You have any time management tips?

You know, I've gotten better over the years. I used to be one of those people who was afraid to say no, and then I realized that I was kind of running myself ragged, and I really have to look at the big picture. Like, instead of saying yes to everything, I look at the week or the month and say, okay, I've already committed to X amount. I can't go over X amount. So, because then I know that I'm just, you know, exhausted. And, and when you're exhausted, you'll make a mistake. Sometimes it could be a big mistake, or, you know, you're just not taking care of your own health. So that's important to me right now. And, you know, with Dad's passing, we take care of Mom a lot. So that, that plays very heavy on my mind. You know, a lot of times I cancel things because, you know, something has to get done with Mom. So, and she's still pretty active. She comes into the restaurant several days a week. But, you know, we gotta keep an eye on her. Dad's not around.

No, absolutely. And I do see her dancing on Instagram. I'm curious, does she understand Instagram? Does she know what it is?

No. She just still doesn't get it. All these years later, she does not get it. And she's like, they're a Scotto sister? They're related to me? Like, what are we doing? Is this a TV show? Where am I? But I think that when she sees them come in and they make a big deal of, you know, over her, she appreciates it.

Right. All right. I want to ask you, let's shift focus a little bit. Let's talk about your news career. Wondering how you first got involved in news, but even before Before that, when you were a little girl, what is it you wanted to be when you grew up?

Well, I was kind of torn. I didn't know if I wanted to be an actress, but at the time, you know, listen, family time was around Eyewitness News. We would watch Eyewitness News religiously around the dinner table, and there was a woman on Eyewitness News, Roseanne Scamardella, who I was like, wow. We have almost the same name. She's from Brooklyn. My dad happened to know her, and he said, would you like to meet her? And I said yes. And I went to Eyewitness News and met her, and she showed me around, and she introduced me to Ernie Anastas. And my life has gone full circle with Ernie. And, and I thought like, oh my goodness, this This sounds like the most amazing job. Now, it's a juggle, you know, because it is a consuming job. It's not conditional, you know, conventional hours. We work all the time, on call all the time. And now, thank goodness, because of our telephone, you know, we got the office in our ear 24/7. I know everybody can relate to that.

Yeah.

But I do love the job. And so, Roseanne, really mentored me, and so did Ernie. And, um, I went to college. I was still kind of dabbling with theater, and I realized, geez, at that time, you know, most of the people who were getting the parts did not look like this and sound like this. I think maybe I, I would have had a better shot now just because there are ethnic-looking people more in front of, like, TV and— movies. Back then it was kind of all American.

Yeah.

And, um, I, I, at the time I was like, you know what, I, I don't want to be like waitressing 24/7 and trying to audition. And so I kind of segued into TV news. Um, I started off at the bottom, production assistant, uh, intern, and kind of worked my way up, moved to Atlanta, worked for Ted Turner. And then worked my way back. Worked with Regis and Cindy Garvey, and then went to and worked for Eyewitness News for about 3 years. Got fired there. And then moved on to Channel 5. At the time it was MetroMedia.

Wow.

6 weeks later, after— I was never hired. I was freelance. Rupert Murdoch came in. And he liked the way I sounded and my contacts, and he hired me full-time in 1986, and I've been there ever since.

Yes. New Yorkers have been waking up to you for a long time now. It's amazing.

Thank you.

How would you describe, though, how the job has changed? You know, one of the things we're always talking about is how news has changed. How has the job, in your perspective, changed for you?

Well, I mean, it's all-consuming. Okay, so now there's the social media aspect to it as well, you know, going on Twitter, engaging with people on Twitter, sometimes looking for news tidbits on Twitter.

Mm-hmm.

Um, you know, Instagram seems more of a social thing. Twitter seems a little bit newsier. And I just feel like, you know, you have to get up. For me, I'm kind of still old school, whereas I don't just like to sit behind the desk every day. I like to go out and do stories, get to see the people in the community, find out what's, what's really happening out there. And I love talking to people. And I think it's just, it's all-consuming. I feel like the younger people may not have the same passion that we did for it, but I feel like we were schooled a certain way in doing the job, and things have relaxed for that generation. For them, lucky for them, they've learned how to juggle it, I think, a lot better than we did. I remember when I was pregnant with my daughter, my first child, I went into HR. They didn't even know what papers to give me. In fact, they gave me the wrong papers.

Really?

I came back during my maternity leave to fill out the papers again. You know, nowadays these kids, they, they got a better deal, um, and I've noticed they've learned how to juggle it better and say no better. We didn't. We come from a different generation, and so, you know, we gave up nights, weekends, holidays. You know, listen, to work in this business, you need a certain degree of unexplained insanity. Um, yeah, and I'm right there.

And a very forgiving family, right?

And a very forgiving family. I mean, let's face it, you know, when I was working the 10 o'clock news, I would come home, have dinner with my kids, try to make it normal, um, do a little bit of homework with them. And then go back to do the 10 o'clock news. And most times we weren't finished. My husband, thank goodness, stepped in and, you know, tried to normalize the process. But not easy. But I hope my kids learned another lesson about, you know, having a working mother in the family.

Yeah. Yeah. And the whole lesson really of learning to say no is really valuable because as you mentioned, I mean, I was always taught you never say no because you never know where the opportunity is going to lead you. But then you think about it and you're just all over the place. And at some point—

It's just, you know what, it's gotten too much. Um, and I, I totally come from that school of thought, which is you never, never know what this opportunity is going to bring you. Um, but now I, I think just because it's 24/7 with the telephone, with social media, I have my family's restaurant. My children, even though they're adults, they still need me, you know. You, you, and I have, you know, a mom that needs, you know, attention. So you, you really have to learn how to fit everything in and take care of yourself at the same time.

Yeah, no, definitely. Now, the stories that you are associated with, I, I think because you're on the morning show, um, you know, you have a certain energy about you. You, you have, you you generate this positivity that makes people be in a good mood to start the day, you know, and you feel like you're getting off on the right foot.

Thank you.

But, well, oh, you're welcome. But it really is a skill and a talent. So my hat's off to you on that front. But you also have done very serious news. And I think one of the things that you've done that is really overlooked in your background, and maybe it just gets You know, kind of whitewashed because of everything else that you're doing. You played an instrumental role in Marty Tankleff being released from jail. So can you give just a little bit on how that story came to be?

So a friend of mine was working with Marty, who obviously was incarcerated at that time, and he was trying to help with his appeal. And he said to me, I, you know, I wanna see you. I wanna show you what we have. And he did. And I was like, wow, how did this get overlooked? And how did— was this not presented in court? We actually went to prison and interviewed Marty while he was in jail. And I think it got a lot of attention. It got a lot of attention. We were able to show some of that information that was never presented to a jury for one reason or another. And look at Marty now. He's out there. He's got his law degree. I think he's affiliated with Georgetown University. He's helping people who were wrongfully convicted, and he's paying it forward. So yeah, it was, it was quite a story to be involved with, and it wasn't just the story. It was somebody's life. And he was a young man. So we're happy that he's able to, well, you know, put together the pieces after all those years.

Yeah, if anyone's not familiar with that story, which is hard to imagine, but Marty spent 17 years in jail for a crime he did not commit. So I can't imagine how you just begin a life after going through that.

Yeah, they said he killed his parents. And they brought up that he was adopted, and, you know, they made it seem like it was, you know, one of those things— adopted kid goes wild. And, and really, there were so many other blatant signs at that last card game that his dad had that was never presented to the jury. It was just amazing.

It really is. Now, it also, though, goes to show really the power of news, how just shining a light on a subject is really the beginning of what can happen next, you know. And, and I think that part of the equation of news is getting lost with all of the glamour of social media surrounding it.

Right, the glamorous social media. And everybody thinks they're a journalist. They go on, uh, these social media platforms. Be very careful. because not all of it is true. I was chasing some tidbit of information that somebody gave me that said I overlooked it and I didn't know what I was doing, and I spent like a whole day and they were wrong. Uh, but you know, it's a— there's a lot of wrong information out there. And I, you know, when I started in the business, I mean, it really was not entertainment, it was informational. And helping the community. And so I still take that responsibility very seriously.

Yeah, and I think you also take very seriously that it's a person's life that you're talking about, no matter what the subject matter is. They're, they're still a human being, and whatever you say is really going to impact them, whether it's for good or for bad.

You know, um, that's right. Your words have meaning, and sometimes they have weight. And so I try to be fair and balanced as much as I possibly can. It's difficult sometimes with politicians who don't want to answer the questions and love to spin. But that's where, you know, doing your homework comes in. And I never come to my newscast without doing my homework. You know, everybody's— you've been doing it so long, you can just phone it in. No, no, no, no, no. We don't phone it in.

No, no. And it shows. It shows. How about, do you have some other advice for young journalists that are starting out?

I think that they— young journalists, I just hope that they have the fire in the belly that we did, you know, really getting out there and getting to learn about the people in the community. And not just doing the story, but really getting to learn about that community. I find that a lot of— not a lot, but some of the reporters, you know, they pretty much do a story about what they read in the paper. They kind of regurgitate it. They don't go past the headlines. You need to go past the headlines. Do your own work and get to learn the people in that community. There were so many times, I mean, I'd come back and my boss would say to me, what elements do you have for this story? And I would rattle off. He goes, nope, go back out. And sometimes, you know, you didn't have the main person that you were talking about. You might have everybody around there. My boss would make me sit outside that person's house until I got the interview.

Yeah.

People don't think—

That's a great—

yeah.

Yeah. Now, and I see a trend now too. I don't know if you've noticed this where, you know, I'll be reading a story and the source will be quoted as saying, you know, in an email statement provided. So the reporters aren't even talking to their sources at this point. It's either through email or maybe a text message. And, you know, there's so much that can get lost in that translation.

You know, I guess news doesn't cover the way we used to. I mean, I used to cover trials every day in that courtroom, whether it was the Preppy Murder trial— remember that young man who was convicted of killing a woman in Central Park— or the Swiss nanny trial, or the Mia and Woody Allen trial. I mean, every day in that courtroom, you found a reason to go on air. and share the information that you learned. I don't know whether news just doesn't have those kind of resources anymore, whether because of social media there's not that interest in the intricacies of those cases, but news has changed over the years.

It definitely has. It definitely has. I'm wondering, for you at this point now, I mean, you just put out the new book. You're doing the Instagram, you've got the restaurant going, you've got, you've got the news career going. Are you thinking about what's next? Do you have another project already lined up?

Um, I don't have another project lined up. I have some ideas in my head, yeah, that I'm kind of working towards. Um, you know, it's not like years ago where if you were anchor of Good Day New York You kind of died in the job.

Yeah.

That's not guaranteed. It's not guaranteed. So you have to kind of evolve and change. And if you don't, you're gonna get left behind. So I'm constantly looking to how I could bring the show forward, where it— there might be a spinoff. Um, but definitely evolving. Definitely evolving.

Okay. So wondering, where do you get your inspiration from?

Well, there's so many great people out there that are doing interesting things. I mean, Oprah Winfrey, I love her so much. She's gone from having, you know, a daily talk show to having her own network to do the most important interviews out there. She's still got a foot in the water and, and helping the community. I think that she's one of those people that, you know, evolves and changes. So I'm always watching what her next move is.

Okay. Yeah, that's a good one to keep an eye on. Now, I know you are very involved in the community. Can you give us a little insight on the kinds of projects that kind of are close to your heart?

Well, one of the organizations that I work with is HeartShare. It's an organization, organization based in Brooklyn. They deal with young adults who have developmental problems and foster kids, and it's really a beautiful organization. It really makes a difference in those families' lives. I've been involved with them over 20 years. I have gone to the homes. I have gotten to know the families. And it really works. It really works. It gives that— those families that support. Another organization Northwell Hospital is very involved in, they have the Katz Institute for Women, which is a wonderful hospital that focuses on women's health. Because, Jaci, as you know, women always kind of put themselves behind everybody else. They're always worried about mom. Their husband, their kids. They're always last on the list. And even research for women has always been last on the list. So Katz Institute is making it a priority. And so I've been out there supporting them over the last few years.

That's great. We are almost out of time, which it always goes far too fast, especially talking with someone like you. One question, which is kind of our Standard Fast Chat closing question, which is, what's the best thing about being Rosanna Scotto?

That's the hardest question. I think just the fact that I get to meet so many interesting people, famous, not famous. I feel so blessed that these people feel like I'm part of their family. And I get to interview the people who are on the front lines of making news and history every day. Uh, and I don't know, it's exciting. It's really exciting.

The Fair Media Council is a 501 nonprofit organization advocating for quality news and working to create a media-savvy society. For more information about the Fair Media Council and upcoming Fast Chat shows, check out fairmediacouncil.org. This podcast is a part of the C-Suite Radio Network. For more top business podcasts, visit c-suite-radio.com.