By Cathy Miller

Those familiar with WRNJ radio in Hackettstown have likely heard Deirdre Bryant-Worth on-air or in commercials over the past several years.

Deirdre has been married to Norman Worth, general manager of WRNJ radio in Hackettstown, for 38 years. She quipped, “I can’t remember life before Norm!” They’ve lived in Allamuchy since 1985 and have two grown children. Their son Armando is a full-time EMT, currently taking classes to further his medical career. Yoli, their daughter, lives in Phoenix, Arizona, and works in marketing and advertising. If you don’t recognize Deirdre from the radio, you may know her as a lector at Good Shepherd Church in Andover.

Deirdre grew up in Michigan, just north of Detroit. Her path to broadcasting began at Western Michigan University, where she studied journalism and theater. She admitted, “Theatre was calling me more than journalism so I went to graduate school at Penn State. I studied acting and earned my master’s degree there. The next logical step was moving to New York where I did some off-off Broadway plays. Then I went to work at the Actors Theatre of Louisville, a repertory company, where I stayed for a year.”

Over time, she had small parts in other shows and was an extra in several movies. She appeared in commercials for brands including Citibank, Ban deodorant, Huffman Koos, and Spam. There was a series of “Spam Around the World” ads. Deirdre appeared in the English Tavern commercial. She said, “I was the waitress with the little hat that came in and delivered a plate of Spam and eggs to a customer. While we were shooting, they kept stopping because the Spam was sweating under the hot lights and they had to mop it up!”

During the 1970s, Deirdre was hired part-time as a CBS TV News Desk Assistant. She said, “I was always interested in broadcasting, especially radio, so I took a course and learned how to operate a radio control board. I first met Norman when he went there to speak about jobs in radio.”

She continued, “The people at the school thought I had a really good delivery and suggested I send Norman a demo tape [at WRNJ]. I was hired and from January through May 1980, I worked weekends at WRNJ while working on the Barry Farber talk show in New York during the week.”

“In 1980, I went to WHWH / WPST in Princeton. I was there about a year and a half producing a program called “Kaleidoscope.” I had to organize 15 to 20 features by writing intros and outs, along with news, business, sports and entertainment. It all had to time out with commercials to exactly one hour. The station was doing promotions for morning drive time, which I really wanted – but nobody would take over “Kaleidoscope,” so there I stayed!”

Deirdre’s job at WHWH / WPST was grueling, but she learned something new every day.

At the same time, Deirdre was also the weekend Lottery person on TV, drawing the winning numbers live. When needed, she’d fill in for Hela Young, host of over 6,000 nightly Lottery drawings.

Deirdre began working at ABC News Radio in 1981. She’d submitted an audition tape, recalling, “After a while, I phoned ABC and inquired if anyone had listened to my tape. A woman said ‘we were just talking about you. You have a nice sound and we need a radio reporter at WBZ in Boston.’ I explained I couldn’t go to Boston, I’m getting married in three months, and my husband’s involved with a radio station in New Jersey.”

She was invited to interview for a part-time position instead, and she stayed with the company for 34 years. She retired in 2015.

“I anchored hourly newscasts at ABC News Radio, and then voiced reports for the next shift of anchors to use,” Deirdre said. “We had to be on our game because at any time there could be breaking news that would require one of us to go on the air with a minute’s notice, sometimes without notes. There could also be developments that would ‘blow up’ a newscast, requiring a quick rewrite or even sight editing. Everything had to time out perfectly. You’d just have to make it work.”

She also voiced reports for ABC TV News from time to time.

Deirdre said, “I get upset when people refer to it as ‘fake news.’ People don’t understand all the fact checking that goes on. They think we just make stuff up. It’s ridiculous.” She added, “I think I left at the perfect time because it’s a challenge now. I look at my friends who are still working at ABC and wonder how they do it. They do such a great job, yet they’re constantly being targeted for putting out ‘fake news.’

“The field is very different today. There aren’t as many jobs in radio, there are more opportunities in television. There are online news outlets and podcasts.”

She continued, “For those interested in a career in broadcasting, you have to be willing to work crazy hours. A love of current events is essential, along with a wide range of interests – science, technology, geography, business, sports, entertainment. Expertise in a certain field can be helpful. Most importantly, you need communication skills, an ability to tell a story so people will understand it.”

Deirdre’s tips for combatting fake news:

Identify news sources, especially online: Who broke the story? Is this a legitimate news organization?

Avoid ‘opinion news’: Is this ‘reporter’ remaining unbiased and sticking to fact, or are they providing their opinions on a subject? It’s important to avoid lumping news and opinion together.

We’ll be right back after a word from our sponsor…

Talent on the Local Level

Locally, Deirdre has hosted several talk shows over the years at WRNJ. Among them was a program featuring students from four local high schools. Called “Teen Trends,” Deirdre moderated the discussion on topics of interest to the teens. She said, “It was great. I really enjoyed working with the kids.” She also broadcasted during the majority of WRNJ’s Radiothons for The Arc of Warren County.

Though there was an adjustment period after Manhattan and Princeton, Deirdre loves Warren County and “can’t imagine living anywhere else.”

“People think Warren County is rural, well just think of Warren County 38 years ago! Back then, Norman’s business partner at WRNJ, Larry Tighe, would take me to lunch at the hog auction in Hackettstown. He said the ladies upstairs made the best lunches. We’d walk through the auction, head upstairs, and get a seat at the counter. It was very different here!”

Things are different now, too, that Deirdre has retired from broadcasting – but that doesn’t mean she’s given up show business.

One of Deirdre’s passions is tap dancing.

“When I was at the Actors Theater of Louisville, we did some musicals.” She continued, laughing a bit, “I was actually in the opening scene of ‘All That Jazz,’ when they held an audition and everyone in New York who had ever danced was there for that crowd scene.”

She brought that passion to Hackettstown.

“I lead a performance group called the Tap Divas, originally headed by Barbara Dutch, a former Rockette. We perform at The House of The Good Shepherd and Heath Village. What’s so great about our group is only a few of the Divas have had dance training. They took an interest in tapping and have really enjoyed it. Of the dozen women in the group, one is in her 20s, one in her 40s, but everyone else is over 50!”

The Tap Divas meet once a week to practice, more often as a performance draws near. Deirdre has choreographed their programs in the past, but this year Michael Blevins, director of the Young Performers Workshop at Centenary, is their choreographer.

Deirdre and the Tap Divas will perform at Wine & Dine at The House of The Good Shepherd in Hackettstown on June 4.