Meet News 12's new 10 p.m. team: Doug Geed and Mackenzie Maynard

Doug Geed joined News 12 Long Island at launch in 1986, and Mackenzie Maynard is one of the newest anchors at the Woodbury-based station. Both just became co-anchors of the weeknight 10 p.m. broadcast, while Geed also began anchoring the 5 p.m. show. These conversations have been edited for brevity and clarity.

DOUG GEED

You've spent 25 years as a morning anchor until now, which begs this question — are you a morning or evening person?

I'm an early riser, no question about it. Even on weekends, if the clock says 7, I've got to get up. I love the first cup of coffee, the newspaper, putting on a John Wayne western and just vegging out. I'm working until 11 now. It's not the middle of the night.

Tell me something about yourself that viewers might not already know.

Born and raised in Syosset, my parents were of the World War II generation. My dad was a navigator [with the Army Air Forces in the European theater] and in construction his whole life, and my mom — I say this proudly — was a World War II housewife who raised four kids. I lost my dad in high school — sudden heart attack — and she went to school to become a nurse's aide, and worked at a local nursing home. I call myself a blue-collar anchor because I don't let anything go to my head. My parents were good straightforward people and my wife and I tried to instill kindness, compassion and humility in our three kids.

What editorial tweaks will you make at either 5 or 10?

Long Islanders are stressed — it's so hard to live here, to afford to live here, and with just the world in general. We want to try to calm people down. There will be news, but we're also trying to inject some calmer, on-the-lighter-side, more human elements.

Will you continue producing your weekend show, "The East End?"

Yes, and I'll always have a special place in my heart for the East End. The farms out there are what all of Long Island once was, and it's almost like a living museum. I love the fact that people want to preserve their history and honor where they live and I've always wanted to spotlight, primarily, the farms. That's how the program started 25 years ago. They work so hard out there and could have sold their land, but the fact is, most of them don't.

MACKENZIE MAYNARD

What's your professional background?

I graduated college at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and then like most journalists applied everywhere — to over 90 stations, in Mississippi, Kentucky, anywhere I thought would let a recent graduate start her career, and ended up going to Washington state and the Tri-Cities NBC affiliate there. Six months in, I went from MMJ to weekend evening anchor, then after two years, went to a station in San Diego, and after two years there went to New Haven and WTNH.

"MMJ?"

A multimedia journalist — I was a one-man band. On the weekends in San Diego, I would be the only one in the newsroom, following any breaking news that I'd posted to the web. One time there was a shooting and I grabbed my camera gear and got that on the 11 p.m. news that I was also anchoring and producing. Once you do that, you realize anything can happen in this industry.

Your family?

My younger brother just graduated from George Washington University. He's my best friend and he's super supportive. Both my parents were actually truck drivers. My mom worked for Airborne and DHL express, and my dad did freight and now he's a terminal manager.

When did you decide on your career?

Growing up I always watched the news, which is something we did as a family. It was on in the morning and at night. I idolized all the anchors and reporters and thought, how cool would that be to do that? But I also loved the idea of being an elementary school teacher.

What was the job at WTNH/8?

Education reporting but a lot of general reporting as well. Because of the pandemic we really honed in on schools and I ended up working closely with Commissioner of the Department of Education Miguel Cardona, who is now secretary of education. He was amazing in helping me navigate and focus on the positive in schools.

You're a 10 p.m. co-anchor but also an education reporter. Will that glass-half-full approach be the way you report on education on Long Island?

Yes. There is never-ending source of positive stories here.

Tell me something about yourself that might surprise viewers.

I love organizing any drawer, or cabinet, any time I go to friends' homes. I like my things in order.

So, as a person who worked in New Haven and is now on Long Island, which place has the better pizza?

I'm definitely a Pepe's of New Haven person, but I came here and tried Little Vincent's in Huntington. It was phenomenal.