At 10 years old, Mary Alice Williams decided she wanted to tell news stories. Now, as she looks back on a career spanning more than 50 years, we discover two things happened: She not only reported the news stories that shaped our history, she also blazed trails everywhere she went.

In this fast-moving Fast Chat, we cover the timely -- what's up with CNN, the Cable News Network Williams' helped create -- and the timeless -- just what is news, anyway? Is local news dead?

Williams recently stepped down as anchor of NJTV News, a Public Media station devoted to telling stories of import to New Jersey residents, capping a news career that began local — at NBC New York and WPIX — to becoming one of the highest-ranking female executives in American television. A primary architect behind the design of the first worldwide television network, Williams oversaw the construction of CNN’s New York bureau and served as principal anchor and Vice President in charge of the New York bureau. From there, she went on to NBC News, where she was an anchor of the news team that won a national Emmy Award for its coverage of the fall of communism.

Take a listen and be in the know in 30 minutes.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices