Jean Enersen

Jean Stanislaw Enersen (born June 16, 1944) is an American journalist who worked for 48 years at KING-TV in Seattle. Filling the anchor chair at KING for 42 years, Enersen was the longest-standing local female anchor. She retired from full-time anchor duties at KING in the summer of 2014, and accepted a retirement buy-out by Tegna, formerly Gannett, in April 2016.

Early life Enersen was born in San Mateo, California, to Irving "Stan" and Evelyn Stanislaw, while her father was serving in the U.S. Navy.

Her family moved to the Seattle neighborhood of Magnolia when she was young and she attended Our Lady of Fatima School. She then studied at Mercer Island High School, where she participated in swimming and graduated in 1962. She attended Pomona College and transferred to Stanford University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1966.

She returned to Seattle in 1968 for a job in King Broadcasting Company's documentary-film production company King Screen Productions, but the subsidiary was plagued by financial issues. After a week on the job, the film division was shuttered and Enersen transitioned into the newsroom.

By 1973 Enersen was considered Seattle's top newscaster, according to market research at the time.

Though Enersen served as a temporary host for NBC's Today Show in 1986, she told The Seattle Times she decided to stay in Seattle and forego a position at a national network or larger local market after her daughters were born. She also serves as the Representative Director for UW Medicine on the University of Washington Foundation Board.

Pop culture In the 2021 Netflix series Firefly Lane, Enersen was the career inspiration for fictional journalist Tully Hart, played by Katherine Heigl. The series was set in Seattle and based on a book of the same name written by a local author. In 2015, Enersen delivered a TED Talk in Kirkland, Washington titled "We're all in this together" about her career, the workplace sexism she experienced, healthy living, and the power of community.

Personal life Enersen married Dr. Bruce Carter, president and CEO of ZymoGenetics, in 1997. Her previous marriages were to cinematographer Dick Enersen and businessman Paul Skinner, the father of her two daughters.