WNCN reporter Bridget Chapman has become at least the sixth Raleigh. N.C. newser to leave the industry entirely during the past year.
Chapman, who arrived at the Nexstar-owned station in May 2019, announced her exit Wednesday on social media. “After framing my life around being a journalist for the past decade, I’ve decided to close this chapter,” she tweeted. “This industry can be tough. Local news reporters do it because they care about you and your community, which is also their community. Please be kind to them.”
The Utah native, who previously worked in Memphis, Tenn. and Yakima, Wash., added that she’ll remain in Raleigh and plans to “post more about the next chapter.”
A personal update from a now former TV news reporter: pic.twitter.com/fHI26VGF2W
— Bridget Chapman (@bridgetchapman_) September 29, 2021
As the Raleigh News & Observer noted, Chapman is the latest of long line of Raleigh newsers who have quit the industry in the past year, largely as a result of their experiences during the pandemic. Among the other departures:
- Fellow WNCN reporter-anchor Colleen Quigley left in June, saying she could no longer report on tragic stories.
- At WRAL, reporter Rosalia Fodera departed earlier this month to attend Campbell Divinity School. Reporter and weekend anchor Sloane Heffernan exited this summer, saying her perspective had shifted as a result of the pandemic. And anchor Kathryn Brown left last November, after saying that working at home with her kids by her side made her “realize what I was missing.”
- WTVD anchor Julie Wilson exited last December, after reassessing “the direction I am going in this life” during the pandemic.