Type: WTVD-TV, Raleigh
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News provides 45.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division.
Press Release
July 19, 2021
Media relations
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ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham Names New Evening News Anchor
Lauren Johnson Joins the Station From WTXF-TV- Philadelphia
ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham President and General Manager Rob Elmore has named Lauren Johnson to co-anchor its evening newscast and will join the team by the end of July.
Johnson will co-anchor the evening Eyewitness News team at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with Steve Daniels as well as the 10:00 p.m. newscast on CW22. She replaces Tisha Powell who announced she was retiring from broadcasting.
“It is a great pleasure to welcome Lauren to ABC11,” said Elmore. “Our team had an instant connection with Lauren the minute we met her, and we know our viewers will feel the same as she joins the evening news to inform and serve our growing audience across central North Carolina.”
Joining from Fox 29 News in Philadelphia, Johnson launched a weekend edition of “Good Day Philadelphia.” During her tenure, she covered the deadly Amtrak derailment, the pope’s visit to Philadelphia, the Democratic National Convention, the NFL Draft, the Eagles Super Bowl-winning season, both Bill Cosby trials, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and the local civil unrest surrounding the murder of George Floyd.
WTVD’s News Director Bervette Carree added, “I am thrilled to welcome Lauren Johnson to ABC11 Eyewitness News and to the great state of North Carolina. Lauren is a talented, compassionate and seasoned journalist who is a truth-seeker for all people. Her ability to authentically connect with people is a unique and appreciated trait in our industry. I have no doubt Lauren will be an awesome addition to our winning team.”
Johnson began her career as a feature reporter at Central Florida News 13 in Orlando, Florida, in 2003. She then joined WHBQ-TV in Memphis, Tennessee, as a health reporter, winning a Tennessee Hospital Association Award. She was also nominated for several Emmys® for her reporting of children’s healthcare issues before being tapped to co-anchor the early edition of “Good Morning Memphis.” She briefly returned to Orlando and launched the weekend edition of “Good Day Orlando” for the Fox affiliate; while there, she additionally covered the controversial trial of George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin.
Johnson graduated from Furman University with a bachelor’s degree in communication studies. She credits her internship working behind the scenes on ABC’s “Good Morning America” with Diane Sawyer as what “sealed the deal” for a journalism career.
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News provides 47.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division. For more information, go to http://www.abc11.com.
| Website: | http://www.abc11.com |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/ |
Media Contact:
ABC11/WTVD-TV
Elita Fielder Adjei
Director, Communications & Publicity, ABC Owned Television Stations
(424) 247-3517 mobile
elita.adjei@disney.com
Rob Elmore is president and general manager of ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham where he has overall management responsibility of the station’s operations and its ancillary businesses. He reports to Wendy McMahon, president, ABC Owned Television Stations.
An award-winning local news executive, Elmore brings extensive experience leading teams in the multiplatform space including ABC7/KABC-TV Los Angeles, which serves the second largest market in the United States. As the vice president of KABC’s news division for the past five years, he has helped cement the station’s status as Southern California’s leading source for local news and information, expanding coverage to serve audiences across broadcast, digital and social platforms. Prior to KABC, Elmore spent 17 years at WTVD where he held the position of news director serving the Research Triangle Region of Durham, Raleigh, Chapel Hill and Fayetteville with the most trusted news information, entertaining content and inspiring storytelling.
At KABC, Elmore specialized in creating and executing content and format strategies to increase multiplatform viewership and engagement, helping to secure ABC7’s position as the No. 1 station in the country on digital and social. Most recently, KABC was honored in 2020 with four Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards for Overall Excellence, Breaking News Coverage, Excellence in Video, and Best Newscast in large-market television in Region 2 of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA).
As news director of WTVD, Elmore spearheaded the opening of the first and only downtown Raleigh street-level studio, The Raleigh Eyewitness News Center, in 2005. In 2008, his team was the first in the country to deploy a live broadband mobile unit, Breaking News 1, for spot news and severe weather coverage. In 2011, he and the team created the Happening Now at 5 p.m. format, which has been replicated at local stations across the country.
Before joining ABC Owned Television Stations, Elmore was news director and assistant news director at News 10 NBC in Rochester, New York. Earlier in his career, he was a news producer at WSMV in Nashville, Tennessee, where produced the 6 p.m. and 10 p.m. newscasts; and WHAM-TV in Rochester, New York, where he produced the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. He began his television career as a reporter at WWNY-TV in Watertown, New York, during summer and college breaks.
Elmore graduated magna cum laude from SUNY Geneseo with a Bachelor of Arts in speech communication.
Press Release
April 30, 2021
Media relations
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ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham’s Longtime Eyewitness News Anchor Tisha Powell Retiring From Broadcasting To Return Home to Louisiana
Longtime Eyewitness News evening anchor Tisha Powell announced she is retiring from broadcasting to return home to Louisiana. Her last day on air will be June 30, 2021.
Powell shared the following message to the ABC11 staff:
A little over 16 years ago, I arrived at RDU airport with my mom by my side and a 3-year-old toddler in tow. My husband, James, an Army captain at the time, was serving a year-long deployment to Iraq. I had no idea what our journey to North Carolina would bring or how long our time here would last. James and I were just looking for a home for our family that was military friendly and would allow both our careers to flourish. That’s exactly what we were lucky enough to find here in the Triangle and so much more … I just want to say “thank you” to my wonderful coworkers who have always been there to see me through the tough times and have also helped to celebrate the many happy milestones over the years. And to the loyal ABC11 viewers who have welcomed me into their homes every night, I couldn’t be more grateful. In June, I will be rounding out a 25-year career in TV news. I will continue serving our viewing area until my time here ends this summer.
Powell joined the Eyewitness News team in 2004. She has co-anchored Eyewitness News at 5:00 p.m., 6:00 p.m. and 11:00 p.m. with Steve Daniels as well as the 10:00 p.m. newscast on CW22.
“I remember how excited I was to recruit Tisha in 2004, and I am so grateful that our community and our news team shared 17 great years with her. She represents the best of ABC11,” said Rob Elmore, president and general manager, WTVD. “We have always known that Louisiana has a special place in Tisha’s heart, and we will miss her daily presence in our lives. While we are sad to see her go, we understand and wish Tisha and her family good health and happiness always.”
During her time at ABC 11, Powell traveled back to New Orleans in 2005 to cover Hurricane Katrina. She reported on the pope’s visit to Philadelphia, the Carolina Panthers’ trip to Super Bowl 50 and has interviewed influential people like first lady Michelle Obama and Oprah Winfrey. She has also jumped with the Army Golden Knights Parachute Team in Laurinburg, North Carolina. When Powell was not on the anchor desk, she spent many hours supporting community organizations and events and working on special reports for Eyewitness News.
Throughout the month of June, ABC 11 plans to celebrate Powell’s 17 years, with a final send-off on Wednesday, June 30, 2021.
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News provides 47.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division. For more information, go to http://www.abc11.com.
| Website: | http://www.abc11.com |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/ |
Media Contact:
WTVD/ABC Owned Television Stations
Elita Fielder Adjei
Director, Communications & Publicity
elita.adjei@disney.com
Press Release
February 24, 2021
Media relations
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ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham Joins Local Initiative To Advance Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in North Carolina Media
ABC 11 will work with the North Carolina Media Equity Project, a Pilot at Elon University
ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham joins the NC Local News Workshop at Elon University in the North Carolina Media Equity Project, a pilot program launched to advance diversity, equity and inclusion in North Carolina media.
The project grew out of national and local conversations stemming from the Black Lives Matter movement. It brings media organizations together “as a learning cohort and support network” to be more inclusive when serving North Carolina residents who are Black, Native American, Latino, LGBTQ, and other diverse groups who lack representation in media.
“Our team is excited to be part of this groundbreaking project and we know we will learn and grow from the experience,” said Rob Elmore, President and General Manager, ABC11/WTVD-TV. “We are committed to ensuring that the content and culture at our station reflects the rich diversity of the communities we serve here in North Carolina.”
ABC11’s participants who meet with the cohort regularly include news director Bervette Carree, director of Community Engagement Monica Barnes, manager of Operations and Business planning Kaila Mitchell and president and general manager Rob Elmore.
The station’s mission is to inform, serve and reflect the diverse communities it serves. At the start of February, ABC11 announced its month-long exclusive Black History Month content, which included a weeklong series paying homage to North Carolina’s historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU), a “vaccine equity” town hall addressing disparities in communities of color, and numerous specials that focus on the Black culture and experience.
ABC11 is joined by six other media organizations who will gather in four quarterly sessions and have agreed to work together in a long-term commitment to change internal practices and culture across their respective organizations.
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News is the No. 1 morning newscast, with the station providing 47.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division. For more information, go to http://www.abc11.com.
| Website: | http://www.abc11.com |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/ |
Media Contact:
WTVD/ABC Owned Television Stations
Elita Fielder Adjei
Director, Communications & Publicity
(424) 247-3517 mobile
elita.adjei@disney.com
Press Release
February 1, 2021
Media relations
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The Premiere of ‘Our America: The HBCU Experience’ Kicks Off ABC11’S Exclusive ‘Black History Month’ Content Airing Across Its Broadcast and Available on ABC11 North Carolina Connected TV Apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku—Including The Rebroadcast of ‘Our America: Living While Black’ on Hulu
L-R North Carolina A&T University Blue & Gold Marching Machine, Shaw University, A&T University Four Monument, St. Augustine’s
University aerial view
View ‘The HBCU Experience’ Trailer Here
ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham premieres “Our America: The HBCU Experience,” Feb. 1-5 (5:30 p.m. EST),a weeklong series featuring North Carolina’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities, as part of the station’s exclusive Black History month content. ABC11’s “Black History Month: Past, Present, Future” month-long content celebrates Black culture with multiple features airing every week on ABC11 and available to stream on ABC11’s connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Android TV, Apple TV and Roku. Additionally, the groundbreaking five-part docuseries, “Our America: Living While Black,” is available to stream on the station’s connected TV apps and Hulu.
The “HBCU Experience” special will spotlight one HBCU each day, beginning Monday, Feb. 1, through Friday, Feb. 5 (5:30 p.m.EDT), in its newscast with an extended version available exclusively on the ABC11 News App and ABC11’s connected TV apps.
Below is a snapshot of ABC11’s “Black History Month: Past, Present, Future,” month-long content.
Week 1:
- “Our America: The HBCU Experience” shines a light on the history, legacies, resilience and impact the historically Black colleges and universities of North Carolina A&T University, Shaw University, St. Augustine’s University, North Carolina Central University and Fayetteville State University have had on Black students, alumni and the community.
Week 2:
- History of ABC11 “Within These Walls” takes a look at the Black history of ABC11, including Ervin Hester, the first African American news anchor in the Southeast.
- Pauli Murray is a civil rights activist who led change in North Carolina. Murray was the first black woman to be ordained as an Episcopal priest. Murray gave her first communion as a priest at the church in Chapel Hill, where her grandmother (a slave) was baptized.
- Black Negro Leagues across the United States are now being honored by Major League Baseball. We speak with the stepdaughter of one of the greatest Negro League players in history, Buck Leonard.
Week 3:
- Today’s Change Makers takes a look at social movements, like Black Lives Matter, and the impacts social activists, like Kerwin Pittman, are making in our communities today. We will also speak to 12-year-old Elijah Lee, who marches for awareness of children who suffer in silence after they are victims of child abuse.
- Rabbi Sandra Lawson is thefirst openly gay female Black rabbi, now the head of religious studies at Elon University in North Carolina.
- Freeman Round House Museum features artifacts that depict the culture and contributions of African Americans to the history and development in Wilson, North Carolina. Freeman was a noted local African American stonemason who built homes to help alleviate the housing shortage for GIs returning from the war.
Week 4:
- Infrastructure Racism, Part 1, investigates how urban freeways divided neighborhoods in the South. The Durham Freeway was intentionally built through Durham’s Hayti district, destroying the once vibrant community. From 1949-1973 the U.S. Government bulldozed 2,500 neighborhoods in 993 cities, displacing one million people.
- Infrastructure Racism, Part 2, investigates redlining that existed in Durham and the lasting impact on low-income and minority neighborhoods in one of the South’s largest cities. The areas that were once in red districts are now some of the poorest areas in Durham.
- Infrastructure Racism, Part 3, investigates how Raleigh’s growth leads to gentrification in the city’s low-income southeast. While Raleigh’s suburban neighborhoods have diversified in the number of non-Black residents moving in, South Park in southeast Raleigh has had more white residents moving in since 2000. On average, people in South Park make $75,000 more than their neighbors.
All stories highlighted will air within the newscast of ABC11 and available via streaming and VOD on the station’s connected TV apps.
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News provides 47.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division. For more information, go to http://www.abc11.com.
| Website: | http://www.abc11.com |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/ |
Media Contact:
WTVD/ABC Owned Television Stations
Elita Fielder Adjei
Director, Communications & Publicity
elita.adjei@disney.com
Press Release
December 15, 2020
Media relations
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ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham Names Bervette Carree As Station’s News Director
She Joins the Station on Jan. 11, 2021, from WXIA-TV, NBC’s Affiliate in Atlanta
Bervette Carree has been named ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh Durham’s news director, effective Jan. 11, 2021, announced today by Rob Elmore, president and general manager, WTVD-TV, to whom she will report. Carree is an accomplished and award-winning journalist with a career that spans nearly 20 years working in various top 10 television markets and cable news networks, including CNN.
“I am thrilled to welcome Bervette back home to North Carolina and especially to joining our family at ABC11,” said Rob Elmore, president and general manager, WTVD-TV. “During our search, it was clear that Bervette’s leadership style, combined with her knowledge across all platforms in top markets, was exemplary. Additionally, her passion and track record of producing fair and balanced content that focuses on all community voices makes her the ideal choice to lead our news team’s mission to reflect our communities within the content we produce.”
Carree is joining ABC11 from WXIA-TV, NBC’s affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia, where she has been an executive producer since 2019. She also managed the “Voices For Equality” franchise, which includes content focused on underrepresented voices within the community.
Carree is also a North Carolina native. Before working at WXIA-TV, she was an executive producer at WGHP-TV in High Point, North Carolina, where she played an integral role in revamping a four-and-a-half-hour morning show.
“It is a privilege and an honor to return home to join an esteemed group of journalists who are committed to serving the community on-air and behind the scenes – especially during these unprecedented and transformative times,” said Carree. “I look forward to working with the team and building on the established journalistic excellence at ABC11 Eyewitness News.”
Her previous North Carolina professional stints include producing the news at WRAL-TV in Raleigh, WCNC-TV in Charlotte, and WITN-TV in Greenville. Carree also produced at WCAU-TV in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
On the national front, Carree was a lead producer at CNN and HLN in Atlanta, covering news events such as the Ebola outbreak, the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting, and the disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight 370.
Carree is a proud HBCU graduate of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, North Carolina. She is a mentor to many journalism students and is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the Radio Television Digital News Association.
About ABC11/WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham
The only local news station with three downtown newsrooms (Raleigh/Fayetteville/Durham), ABC11 Eyewitness News provides 45.5 hours of local news every week, serving more than 1 million households in a 23-county area in North Carolina and Virginia. Eyewitness News also provides news, weather and sports information 24 hours a day on ABC11.com, the ABC11 mobile news app and the new connected TV app available on Roku, Fire, Apple, and Android TVs. ABC11 WTVD is one of eight ABC Owned Stations as part of the Disney Media & Entertainment Distribution division.
| Wesbite: | http://www.abc11.com |
| Twitter: | https://twitter.com/ABC11_WTVD |
| Instagram: | https://www.instagram.com/abc11_wtvd/ |
| Facebook: | https://www.facebook.com/ABC11/ |
Media Contact:
WTVD/ABC Owned Television Stations
Elita Fielder Adjei
Director, Communications & Publicity
(424) 247-3517 mobile
elita.adjei@disney.com