Al Jazeera America continues to staff up, announcing four new anchors that will lead some of its news programming.
In addition to confirming the hire of Richelle Carey, which TVNewser first reported earlier this week, AJAM is adding Jonathan Betz, Morgan Fogarty and Del Walters as anchors. The four will be based in New York City at a new studio that AJAM is building, and “will present live news throughout the day,” the channel says.
Betz joins AJAM from WFAA Dallas, where he was a reporter and fill-in anchor. He previously worked at WWL New Orleans, where he led the station’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina. Fogarty joins AJAM from WCCB Charlotte, where she was the anchor of the 10 PM newscast. She previously anchored the 12 PM and 5 PM newscasts for WHAG Hagerstown, MD. Walters was previously the senior investigative reporter and anchor for WJLA Washington DC, and also worked at WMAR Baltimore and radio station WTOP in DC.
Carey, as we previously noted, is joining AJAM from HLN.
“This talented and trusted group of on-air talent is a further indication of the quality and depth of journalism experience that Al Jazeera America is attracting,” said Bob Wheelock, senior executive producer for news and special projects in a statement. “Their previous work across the United States will help to ensure that our daily newscasts include objective reporting on the stories from around the block and around the globe that have a real impact on each American’s lives.”
More below.
AL JAZEERA AMERICA ADDS FOUR NEWS ANCHORS
Seasoned Journalists Will Broadcast from New
State-of-the-Art Studio in New York City
NEW YORK – (July 11, 2013) – Al Jazeera America, the new American news channel that will launch in late August, today announced its first four news anchors. Jonathan Betz, Richelle Carey, Morgan Fogarty and Del Walters will present live news throughout the day from Al Jazeera America’s studio in New York City.
“This talented and trusted group of on-air talent is a further indication of the quality and depth of journalism experience that Al Jazeera America is attracting,” said Bob Wheelock, senior executive producer for news and special projects. “Their previous work across the United States will help to ensure that our daily newscasts include objective reporting on the stories from around the block and around the globe that have a real impact on each American’s lives.”
Before joining Al Jazeera America, Jonathan Betz spent four years at WFAA-TV Channel 8 in Dallas, Texas, as a field reporter and fill-in anchor. Prior to that, Betz was a reporter for WWL-TV Channel 4 in New Orleans, LA, where he led the station’s coverage of Hurricane Katrina, for which he and the WWL-TV news team won Alfred I. duPont and George Foster Peabody Awards. Betz was the only television reporter in the country to deliver live reports from inside the city’s devastated Lower Ninth Ward on the day of the hurricane.
Richelle Carey is an Emmy Award-winning reporter who, based in Atlanta, GA, spent the last seven years as an anchor and correspondent for CNN. Carey was also a weekday anchor for CNN’s HLN. Prior to CNN, Carey was a weekday morning anchor for KMOV-TV in St. Louis, MO. and for KVVU-TV in Las Vegas, NV.
Morgan Fogarty was been an integral part of the Emmy-award winning WCCB News @ Ten in Charlotte, NC for nearly a decade and served as the broadcast’s main anchor for the past three years. Prior to that, she co-anchored the popular nightly news talk show, WCCB News Edge. Morgan has won numerous journalism awards throughout her career including several from the Radio Television Digital News Association and the Associated Press. Before working at WCCB, Morgan anchored and produced the 12 and 5 PM news broadcasts at WHAG NBC25 in Hagerstown, MD.
Veteran news anchor Del Walters spent more than two decades as an anchor and senior investigative reporter for WJLA-TV in Washington, D.C. where he was awarded more than 20 Emmy Awards, including one for “Best Anchor.” Walters left WJLA in 2004 to be the managing editor of investigative operations at WMAR-TV in Baltimore, Md. In 2006, Walters started his own production company3PE Productions, producing the critically acclaimed film “Apocalypse Africa, Made in America.” In addition, Walters has taught at Bowie State University and was a news anchor for D.C.’s top radio news station WTOP Radio-CBS. He was recently awarded the Edward Murrow Award for his hour-long feature on Haiti.
ABOUT AL JAZEERA AMERICA
Al Jazeera America, which will launch in late August, is the new U.S. news channel that will provide both domestic and international news for American audiences. It will be headquartered in New York City with additional bureaus in 12 cities across the United States.
Visit us online at http://www.aljazeera.com/
america for all the latest updates on Al Jazeera America. You can also like us on Facebook atwww.facebook.com/aljazeeraamerica and follow us on Twitter @AJAM (www.twitter.com/ajam) and join the conversation using #AlJazeeraAmerica.