It’s hard to imagine, but Steve Kmetko—the man who once personified television entertainment news—is no longer a fan of the medium. That may explain why he’s branching out with a new gig on Tampa-based LGBT networking site MyQmunity.
The iconic broadcaster is best known as the ubiquitous anchor on the E! Entertainment News Network. With Kmetco as handsome front man, the network grew in the 1990s from upstart to cable staple.
He left the network in 2002, started and ended a high-profile relationship with Olympic diver Greg Louganis, and has since strengthened his ties to the LGBT community.
Fired for being gay
“I wish we’d be a little more organized, especially when it comes to same-sex marriage,” Kmetko observes. “It seems like [marriage rights] should have passed in California, of all places. We should have fought back harder when the law was rolled back.”
And while Kmetko believes things are headed in the right direction, he says he’s “tired of waiting for change to take place.” As an example, he notes that it’s been 11 years since Matthew Shepard’s brutal murder, and a proposed Hate Crimes Bill has still not passed in the U.S. Congress.
“It’s such a long time for something so obvious,” he says. “And why haven’t we appealed ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’? That could be taken care of with the swipe of a pen. It was outrageous when it happened, just as it is now in 2009.”
Kmetko is no stranger to discrimination. In 1980 he lost a television news job when his boss discovered Kmetko is gay.
“I was about to be promoted to the primary anchor position at a station in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and someone outed me to the general manager,” Kmetko remembers. “He basically said if I wanted to get promoted I was going to have to move to another market.”
So he did—to Louisville, Kentucky.
“I was scared to death going to the South, but Louisville was a wonderful place,” he says. “I had a long-term (partner) there and he was invited to every event I was. It was a good experience for me. It just goes to show you can’t judge a book by its cover.”
TIGLFF Guest of Honor
Tampa is another Southern locale that the Midwestern native may have underestimated. Before he agreed to appear at the upcoming Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival, Kmetco was unaware the city hosts the nation’s sixth largest LGBT film event. Thanks to a friendship with former TIGLFF president and current board member Mariruth Kennedy, Kmetko will be the respected festival’s special Guest of Honor in its 20th year. In addition to attending the Opening Night Reception on Thursday, Oct. 8, Kmetko will moderate a “Homophobia in Sports” panel. Expect him to address his past relationship with Louganis.
“He’s such a great guy, and we remain friends to this day,” Kmetko says of his ex. “To accomplish what he has, and to bring visibility to people with AIDS, is to me far more valuable than winning four gold medals. It hasn’t been easy for him.”
It hasn’t always been a bed of roses for Kmetko either. In 2002 Kmetko was removed from his high-profile duties at E! just days before he was scheduled to work the red carpet at the Emmy Awards.
“My identity was so tied up in my job,” he says. “They had enjoyed a lot of success, and we did it with a lot less money than other networks. It was a tough time when I left there… for a long period.”
He rekindled a previous relationship with the bottle, which led him to Alcoholics Anonymous. Today he attends “a lot” of meetings.
“That’s by choice,” he says. “I don’t have a lot of secrets anymore. I usually start the day with a morning meeting. It’s such a positive message. AA requires you to be spiritually centered, and I found I need that structure.”
Television critic
Kmetko now limits his TV diet to national news and the three PBS stations in hometown Chicago. There’s no appointment viewing; no ‘must see TV.’ Despite a seemingly endless array of channels, the reporter says an increase in the quantity of televised offerings is offset by an erosion in quality.
“Television in the late fifties, sixties, and seventies was much better,” Kmetko says of TV’s so-called ‘Golden Age.’ “There wasn’t as much to choose from, but that made it a lot more competitive. In the seventies you had shows like All in the Family, MASH and Mary Tyler Moore all on the same Saturday night. Now there’s not that much quality in a week.”
Kmetko says that today it’s more like the Bruce Springsteen song, 57 Channels (And Nothin’ On). And he bemoans the amount of shameless cross-promotion.
“You watch the Today show, and they tell you to watch the rest of the interview that night on Dateline,” he observes. “It’s all so cheap and tawdry.”
But Kmetko has a few favorites amongst the “watered down” news channels. He’s a fan of Chris Matthews, Andrea Mitchell, and Rachel Maddow, whom he lauds as “terrific.” He also praises Real Time with Bill Maher and The Daily Show with John Stewart.
Kmetko blames the drop in ratings for the network news—and the popularity of ‘comedy news,’ on the “really short attention span” of the 18 to 34-year-old demographic. But he is encouraged by the way President Obama’s candidacy brought younger voters to the polls. And he grudgingly notes that when he compares the youth-oriented most recent election with that of John F. Kennedy in 1960, he sounds like his parents.
But comparisons—and deflating reminders—may be inevitable for Kmetko, now 56 and still movie star handsome.
“Once at E! we sent a young intern to get a clip of The Wizard of Oz for a story we were doing. She came back and said, ‘Did you know they made this in color and in black-and-white?’” he laughs.
Kmetko says Hollywood’s obsession with youth has crossed over to the news channels he watches.
“Even on MSNBC it’s like watching the model network,” he notes. “It’s like all they use is soft-focus lenses for everyone on the air.”
But Kmetko was once the most recognizable example of good looks in news reporting. When his own chiseled appearance is introduced into the equation, he demurs.
“I use old pictures whenever I can,” he laughs. “It has been a few years. I learned something working in Hollywood!”
Old roots, new opportunities
Several years ago Kmetko moved back to Chicago to be closer to his family, leaving behind what he calls “the toxic environment of Los Angeles.”
“I spent a lot of time on my own career, and having a good time,” he says. “It was time to come home and be a good son. AA has taught me that lesson and helped me do that. And it was an important lesson to learn.”
As for his career, Kmetko is learning to adapt to the influx of new media by taking a course in podcasting at Columbia College, his alma mater. The lessons will serve him well for his new weekly audio program on MyQmunity.com. The LGBT community resource and networking web site recently launched in Tampa Bay, with plans to expand nationwide.
Kmetko’s show, And Here’s Steve…, will include current news and entertainment stories, interviews with celebrities and newsmakers, and reflections on past interviews and experiences. Throughout his career Kmetko has interviewed just about every major celebrity, including gay icons like Bette Davis, Barbra Streisand, Bette Midler and Cher. While he’s in Tampa, Kmetko will transfer many of those videotaped celebrity chats to a digital format for future netcasts on MyQmunity.com.
With a new outlet in a new medium, the dashing news reporter will continue his respected brand of entertainment journalism. It appears the Golden Age of Steve Kmetko is far from over.
