SHORT TAKES : Norville Gets Help in ‘Bad Press’

The “Today” show’s Deborah Norville says that the furor about her appointment as co-anchor last fall helped her realize what was truly important in her life.

Writing in the October issue of Guideposts magazine, a widely read, paid-circulation inspirational publication, Norville describes her shock and surprise at the flurry of negative press that greeted her promotion to one of television’s plum positions.

“The press portrayed me as a conniving woman out to get Jane Pauley’s job--never realizing that the chance to work with Jane was one of the big attractions for me,” Norville says.

So Norville took a long, hard look at her priorities and, although she’s devoted her life to television news, the “Today” crisis at NBC turned her in another direction--toward husband, family and her deep Georgia roots.

Norville credits husband Karl Wellner with giving her the strength she needed “during my rough times,” and speaks warmly of the support of her parents throughout her life.

One of the things her mother taught her was how to sew. Last fall, at the height of the bad press, she and Wellner had just moved into a new apartment, so, “I kept my mind off the press by keeping my hands busy sewing bedspreads, pillows, dust ruffles and kitchen curtains.”