If you’re looking to work with one of the nation’s top TV news talent agents, then Mort Meisner is your guy. He’s kind, charitable, and enormously personable. And he really CARES about his clients.
But he also believes in hard-driving honesty, not tip-toeing around talent, and telling it like it is. It’s these qualities that not only helped him resuscitate several TV stations across the country during the 1970s and 80s, but have scored him an impressive roster of TV news talent today.
This is because Mort Meisner strikes the perfect balance. And it’s a balance that’s taken decades to perfect.
The Story of Craig Negrelli
Back in the 1980s, if you were going to work at a station that Mort Meisner was managing, then you were expected to meet up to (and beyond, ideally) his high expectations. Craig Negrelli rose to the occasion.
Craig’s agent at the time said he’d never be an anchor. That he just didn’t have what it took. Mort disagreed. He saw something in Craig that others hadn’t. While Craig wasn’t anchor material when they first met, Mort felt he could be.
Mort had no intention of making Craig’s journey an easy one. He drove him hard and wasn’t willing to give him any breaks he didn’t deserve. Yet, he also encouraged him, guided and coached him, and gave him props when he earned them.
Craig is now a successful anchor and reporter at Straight Arrow News after anchoring in markets such as Omaha (for more than a decade), Kansas City, Albuquerque, Buffalo, Sarasota, and Wichita. And these days, Mort is Craig’s agent.
The Rise of Al Allen
As Mort worked his way up the news director/management ladder, he continued to notice burgeoning talent around him. But he also noticed that when these candidates were Black, they were not given the same chances. Black male talent in the industry at that time was grossly referred to as The Garbagemen.
They were given bottom-of-the-barrel, lackluster stories that nobody else would cover. So there wasn’t much motivation for them to improve. Furthermore, management didn’t believe in them and did nothing to foster their growth. Until Mort came along.
Such was the case with Al Allen. Mort could see that Al was an unquestionably good reporter. But he suspected management had only hired him as a token and had no interest in seeing what he could really do.
Mort changed that. He came in, took over, and made it abundantly clear what he expected of Al. He also assured him that he knew that Al was more than capable of meeting those expectations. At times, it wasn’t pretty. There was some pretty hardcore “tough love” going on, which at times flew in the face of how Mort believed people should be treated.
Yet, in an interview a few years ago, Al – who went on to become a much-loved news personality in Detroit before he died in 2025 – had this to say about Mort:
“I’ve known Mort for a long time. He was a visionary news director. He saw things in reporters they didn’t see in themselves. He had the key to lift restrictions we were under to make reporters award-winning broadcast journalists — including myself. That’s the kind of person he is. He changed the way we were doing stories at Fox 2, which allowed us to breathe, so to speak. By breathing, we could do a better job. We didn’t realize how good we were until we had these restrictions lifted by Mort.”
Just one of many ringing testimonials for Mort Meisner.
These Days, Mort Meisner Strikes the Perfect Balance
As one of the longest-standing TV news talent agents in the country, Mort Meisner strikes the perfect balance.
He’s taken the lessons he learned at the school of hard knocks and combined it with his naturally warm and caring disposition to be one of the most successful TV news talent agents in the country.
So if you’re a TV anchor, reporter, meteorologist, or sports reporter who’s ready to see where Mort can help you take your career, contact him today.
The ability to recognize real potential in talent is truly one of Mort’s superpowers.
