Geraldo Rivera left law to pursue a career in journalism.

Geraldo Creates Storm
Of Controversy On TV

MICHAEL ELKIN

Special to The Jewish News

B

roken nose, breaking
news . . .
Geraldo Rivera
doesn't just smell out a good
story, he becomes it. Which is
exactly what happened when
Rivera's nose for news got in
the way of a flying chair on a
recent "Geraldo" episode.
He is committed to his craft,
he says, even as the print
media commits itself to
downgrading his sense of
style. "What you have is a
disproportionate way in
which the print media and
critics overract to change," he
says, irritated.
Rivera has changed the im-
age of crusading reporter
from behind-the-scenes in-
vestigator to scene-stealing
inveterate newsmaker. He
opened Al Capone's valut and
vaulted to the top of the
ratings for syndicated
specials. Rivera's NBC pro-
gram about devil worship
proved hell for competitors
and drew satanic scorn from
those concerned about the
way it depicted its gruesome-
ly graphic subject.

'My show on Al
Capone's vault was
the most ridiculed
in TV history.

But, say others, give the
devil his due. Rivera has
become a force in news repor-
ting in the '80s.
But then, Rivera has always
been someone to be reckoned
with; by his own admission,
he has always stood out.
"Hey," he says, "how many
Puerto Rican Jews do you
know?"
Indeed, Rivera points to his

Judaism with pride even as a
six-pointed Star of David tat-
too on his hand points to an
early childhood defiance. "All
my friends were getting tat-
toos of crosses. Well, I couldn't
do that, so I got this star."
The star seated before me
toughs out questions about
his image, but he is one tough
individual, seemingly born
with a leather-jacket soul.
The "nice Jewish kid" from
New York was, he admits,
someone other Jewish kids in
the old neighborhood could
look up to.
"I stood up for them," he
says. "I was able to deal with
the Hispanic kids in the
neighborhood because I spoke
Spanish." He also spoke the
language of the streets, "get-
ting into a lot of fights."
His battles now with the
press may irk Rivera but
don't devastae him. He can
disarm a detractor with a
well-placed fact, a comical
anecdote, a self-deprecating
diatribe.
There is no need for Rivera
to blow his own horn — the
resume talks for him: 150
awards in addition to 10 Em-
mys and the prestigious Pea-
body Award for journalism.
An erstwhile storefront
lawyer on New York's East
Side, Rivera had been a
Reginald Heber Smith Fellow
at the University of Penn-
sylvania Law School.
But it was the lure of jour-
nalism that made him drop
his briefs. Since 1970, when
Rivera joined WABC-TV's
"Eyewitness News" program
in New York, he has steadily
built a bio brimming with
broadcast credits.
In the mid-'70s, Rivera
hosted 30 editions of ABC-
TV's "Good Night America,"
followed by a seven-year itch
scratched by his association
with "20/20." ❑

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