Features

AAPRC Weekly: Florence "Flo" Anthony

Florence "Flo" Anthony
Syndicated Columnist
Gossip to Go with Flo, Jones Radio Network
NYC


Florence Anthony has been a writer from almost the moment she learned her ABCs. When the Ann Arbor, Michigan native was in second grade, she wrote a play about Caroline Kennedy and sent it to the hite House. Somebody at the White House liked it enough to send young Florence a thank you note and some photographs. She also wrote for her elementary school newspaper, and later, in high school, for the local daily, which had a youth page. Technically, it was her first job in journalism, because the youth page actually paid its student writers.

In spite of her head start in journalism, when Anthony went off to Howard University, she majored in acting with a minor in education. No matter, though, journalism still called. After her graduation from Howard, Anthony, who had a love for sports, became the host of a cable sports talk show called "Flo's Place" on Manhattan Cable. One day she invited a group of her guests––a boxing promoter and some of his clients––to a promotional party she'd coordinated for a friend's music project. The boxers were impressed and asked Anthony if she could do the same sort of thing for them. She agreed and after doing promotional work for a number of professional boxers and other athletes, went to work as a press agent for the legendary heavyweight champion Larry Holmes. "I met Bruce Willis and David Hasslehoff, and all these people who were tremendous fans of Larry's," says Anthony of her time with Holmes. "That's how I branched from sports into entertainment."

But before her switch to entertainment was complete, Anthony would give her career in sports another try. As her work with Holmes ended, Anthony founded her own sports magazine, Gladiator, and began writing sports columns for other publications. "I started out doing a sports column for the Black American newspaper called 'Keep Punching,'" says Anthony. Editors from New York's Amsterdam News and The New York Times came calling as well. Then in 1984 Anthony heard that The New York Post was looking to hire a Black woman in the sports department (there weren't any at the time). She was hired as an agate clerk and spent long, late hours gathering sports results from around the country. As it turns out, the sports department was less than pleased with her performance and, seeing that Anthony had a fine arts background, transferred her to the entertainment department. She went "kicking and screaming" and did things like putting together the television grid. Then, in 1986, Anthony asked if she could do a story on a movie from an upstart filmmaker named Spike Lee––"She's Gotta Have It." Her editors were pleased with the work and when she asked to do a second story, a profile on singer Jermaine Jackson in town to promote a new album, they quickly agreed. They wondered, though, how she would manage to get the interview. "And I said, well, I know him," Anthony recalls.

By then, Anthony was firmly enmeshed in entertainment––though she was still hustling to put out her sports magazine on the side––and lobbied hard to get a position with the Post's popular gossip section, "Page Six." Finally, in 1990, after five years in the entertainment department, Anthony got her wish, becoming the first African-American woman to write for the dishy column. Later, when she left the Post in 1994, Anthony stepped into another "first" position––the first African-American woman to write a column for a tabloid––when she headed up the "Eye on the Stars" column in the National Examiner.

While still at the Post Anthony began developing a career in radio, lending her gossip skills to New York area radio stations including WBLS-FM and KISS-FM––where she sat in for gossip guru Wendy Williams. Today, those early forays have evolved into the live daily radio feature, "Gossip to Go with Flo," which she's done for six years now. The show is syndicated by Jones Radio Network in 30 markets. In print, Anthony's weekly column, "Go with the Flo," can be found in New York's Amsterdam News, the Philadelphia Sunday Sun, Black Radio Exclusives (BRE) and New York Trend. She also writes a monthly column for Tokyo's MTelepal and is a Sunday contributor to the London Mail.

In addition to her columns and radio features, Anthony has written a novel––Keeping Secrets, Telling Lies––and is editor-in-chief and, most recently, owner of Black Elegance magazine which she purchased through her company, Dottie Publishing, LLC, named for her late mother, Doris "Dottie" Anthony. There are also plans to revive Gladiator, her former sports magazine. Plus, Anthony is often called upon as a gossip guru by television and cable shows such as the "E! True Hollywood Story," "Inside Edition," "Entertainment Tonight" and many others.

Gossip has been good to Flo, though, at times, it's been exhausting. "When I worked at 'Page Six' you went out every single night. The Donald Trump types, they go out every night. They make three events a night or something. So you really do need to do that…" says Anthony, who admits she hasn't been around much. She spent three years caring for her seriously ill mother, who passed away in October 2003. "I'm just kind of getting back out," says Anthony. "You can search the Internet for things, and I read everything. I've got tons of sources, but you've got to get out and talk to people and be there."

When she's not at the hottest events, Anthony, who lives on New York's Upper East Side, spends her time relaxing, watching movies and spending time with her boyfriend and her cat.

Your gossip spans the country and even reaches London and Tokyo, on radio and in print. What makes a gossip columnist hot?

Always being on top of a breaking story.

What aspect of your work are you most proud of?

My ability to uphold the dignity of Black celebs when they get in trouble.

Have you ever regretted using an item of gossip? And why?

No.

What's the most interesting, um, feedback you've gotten from the subjects of your gossip?

Brandy yelled at me because I broke the story of her engagement before she could. All the while, she was pregnant and supposedly married. We now know the marriage part was a lie.

What's a typical day like for you?

I start on-air with "Sonny in the Morning" at 95.7 R&B in Virginia Beach, Florida. I finish my morning stations at 10:20 a.m. Then, I work on the magazine. I read the papers around 6:00 a.m. At 12:49 p.m., I do another radio feed with WVON in Milwaukee. I work on the magazine from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m. On Wednesdays, I write the "Go with the Flo" column at 10:30 a.m. I write my radio show between 2:00 and 3:00 p.m. for the next day. I usually record it around 3:30 p.m. daily. In addition to over 20 live feeds a day, Jones Radio Networks also sends out the text and the voice daily. I go back on-air at 3:20 p.m. and finish at 6:10 p.m. Most of the afternoon stations either have Tom Joyner or Doug Banks on in the morning. I also sell the ads for the magazine, so I have to type up a lot of correspondence during the day. On weekends, I either travel or sleep.

It would seem that as a gossip columnist you have to have confidence in your ability to decide who or what is buzz-worthy. What in your professional life has given you that confidence?

I'm really not that confident.

You gathered a couple of "firsts" under your belt during your time at the New York Post––first African-American woman to work in that paper's sports and entertainment sections and first to work the gossip page. How has race impacted your career path?

I was also the "first" Black cheerleader at Ann Arbor Huron High, the "first" Black member of the Forensics team, Theater and Radio Guilds and Ann Arbor Junior Theater. I was the "second" Black At-Large Finalist in the Miss Teenage America Pageant. Tracey Reed was the first. I just go after what I want in life. I'm not afraid of racism.

You recently purchased Black Elegance magazine. You published a sports magazine years ago, so this is your second go-round with magazine publishing. What lessons are you bringing to Black Elegance?

Money, a real company and a top distributor.

What would you like to see happen with the radio show and the column over the next several years?

I'd like to get back into the New York market on radio, and I'd like the column to also run in the mainstream press.

Tell us one thing people might be surprised to know about you.

My mom swore we are descendants of Thomas Jefferson and Sally Hemmings.


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As we move into the 21st century at lightning speed, mass media and its potent messages occupy an ever-larger part of our daily lives and our collective psyche. The AAPRC is focused on helping our members gain a deeper understanding of media's force and supporting their growth as powerful participants in the global communications network.

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