Beth Troutman will join Fred Shropshire as anchor of the WCNC evening news.
Troutman comes from syndicated show Right This Minute. She once worked for the NBC series West Wing and got series star Martin Sheen to campaign for her during her 2004 Congressional run in North Carolina. She’s also worked at WCCB as a morning anchor.
“My passions are politics, sociology and world events,” Troutman told the Charlotte Observer after leaving WCCB in 2008. “You can’t do a three-hour morning show about those things. I’m more interested in the human experience – and I do not mean Paris Hilton’s latest boyfriend.”
Troutman later went on to a syndicated show based in Phoenix called “Right This Minute,” which would find interesting viral videos on the Web and she and her team would peer into laptops and act “oooooh” excited about their discoveries.
It was perfect mindless TV – and was snapped up in more than half of the nation’s TV markets. It taught Troutman the business of social media. Before long she was making appearances on NBC’s “Today Show” as an expert.
“This marks a new era for NBC Charlotte,” said WCNC gm Deborah Collura. “After working in the national spotlight, Beth is coming home.”
We interviewed Troutman last year about her work with Right This Minute. Check it out below.