Refocused

A year after leaving Channel 5, Natalie Jacobson talks candidly about her life - and about the state of television news

Since signing off from Boston TV news for good last year, Natalie Jacobson has been to a lot of places. She whale-watched in Mexico, hiked in California's redwoods, and sailed in the British Virgin Islands. She's also learned to pilot her boyfriend's 34-foot power boat on trips to Key West, the Bahamas, and Palm Beach.

And for the first time in a long time, Boston's most famous news anchor is learning to relax and enjoy life without the pressure that comes with reporting live on the air five days a week, which she did for 35 years at WCVB-TV (Channel 5). But she also has some candid observations about the state of television news.

A year away from the anchor chair, Jacobson said she doesn't like the direction the TV news business has been heading. She blames the Internet, cable TV, and a celebrity-obsessed culture for the industry's changing nature.

"America became a 24/7 society," says Jacobson, 65, sporting a pair of light-blue jeans, white sneakers, and a loose-fitting sweater blouse. "People used to make an appointment to watch the 6 o'clock news. They haven't been doing that in10 years. News has come to be lighter. The line between information and entertainment has crossed too far into entertainment. There was a time when Britney Spears would never make a newscast as a footnote."

During two interviews in her South End neighborhood, Jacobson talked about her former business, recounted the places she visited, discussed her "next big thing," and blushed when the conversation turned to the man in her life. Her absence on local television may make some of her old fans wonder: Where in the world is Natalie Jacobson?

"I'm everywhere," she says with a laugh. "When you don't have to work full time, there is a whole world out there that you never knew or that you never had the opportunity to experience. The most fun is that I have been introduced to the sea in a way. I am going to places and enjoying things I never had time to do."

Still, Jacobson fondly recalls her early days in Boston broadcasting, when news programs were must-see TV and ratings were driven by personalities like hers. "It seemed to me that our stories were more involved in people's real lives, from children's education to pocketbook issues to the environment to politicians who would lead us," says Jacobson, who started working at WCVB in 1972 and later became the first female anchor of an evening newscast in Boston.

One of the hallmarks of her career was hosting a series of at-home type interviews with candidates for mayoral and gubernatorial races. "What is the character of the man or woman?" Jacobson says. "How do they make judgments? What kind of people do they surround themselves with? My thought was, shouldn't we as reporters and journalists seek that information out?"

Jacobson's friendly and reliable presence helped WCVB dominate the local TV market. Viewers also related to her personally - she anchored newscasts with her then-husband, Chet Curtis. When Jacobson gave birth at age 37 to their daughter, Lindsay Curtis, after five years of trying to conceive, the delivery made news.

"One of the huge joys of the life I lived as a reporter is that people related to me as a person, as a woman," says Jacobson, who still receives birthday cards and updates from fans who had children late in life. "Somehow watching a public person have a baby so late in life was an inspiration. . . . How beautiful was that?"

Viewers also saw her professional and personal marriage dissolve: In 2001 the pair divorced after 24 years and Curtis left WCVB.

In recent years, Jacobson scaled back her workload, anchoring only the 6 p.m. slot - solo - until Ed Harding was named her co-anchor in March 2007. That summer, she announced she was leaving Channel 5.

One of the reasons for her departure, she says now, was the celebrity-driven and corporate-run culture of the TV news industry.

"The business had changed to the point where I didn't feel I could do the kind of journalism that I enjoyed doing - digging into issues and people - and that's not any one person's fault," says Jacobson, who helmed her last newscast solo on July 18, 2007. "Also, big conglomerates own these media outlets. Disney owns ABC. Disney is an entertainment company whereas . . . it's become a bottom-line business more than it used to be."

Before she left, WCVB gave her one last assignment. Last fall and winter, Jacobson hosted a series of interviews with presidential contenders as a run-up to the New Hampshire primary.

"That is the part of the job I loved," Jacobson says. "You can interview potential leaders. You feel you can ask the questions that the average citizen would love to ask. I always considered that a privilege and a responsibility."

Since she's been off-camera, Jacobson has been busy online. She's developing a multimedia business called MyNextBigThing.com, a social networking site to help baby boomers reinvent themselves after retirement.

"The idea is that you have about 80 million people who are between 50 and 65 years old who are transitioning from a lifetime career to something else. What do you do, and how do you integrate your skills and passions with what is needed in your community?" she says. "It's taking longer than I had thought to pull it together."

Her travels have contributed to the delays. In the past year, she has spent time in her native Chicago, where her brother, sister, and father live; her mother, Dawn, died years ago from breast cancer. Another sister lives in California.

Her daughter says another side of Jacobson has emerged since she left TV news. "My mom is always doing things for other people, for her family and friends," says Lindsay Curtis, who is now 27. "For the first time, she kind of got to take a step back and do the things she never got a chance to do before. It's nice seeing her have time for her."

Jacobson has also found romance. Last year a friend introduced her to Craig Wiggins, former chairman of Foote Cone & Belding International, an ad agency. An avid boater, he's helping Jacobson develop her sea legs.

Is he her boyfriend?

"There should be a better word," she says, and blushes. "To meet a wonderful man at this stage in my life who likes to do things that I used to only dream about. I used to dream about traveling. I used to dream about boating. And to do that with someone that is fun and I so care about and respect is a joy I never expected." The pair have been spotted in Boston and on Nantucket at charity events. Jacobson was in town recently as a guest emcee for the Horizons for Homeless Children women's breakfast.

So what's next for Jacobson?

"I don't know, but it's fun to find out," she says before charging back to her South End condo. "In the meantime, life is wonderful."

Johnny Diaz can be reached at jodiaz@globe.com.