WNYW anchor Lori Stokes has announced her retirement from the New York Fox owned station.
Stokes anchors the 5, 6, and 10 p.m. news on WNYW. She joined the station in 2017 after working at ABC owned WABC for 17 years.
“Fox5 has been so wonderful to me since I joined in 2017, consistently providing me with new opportunities—from co-hosting their flagship morning show Good Day New York to becoming the station’s first solo, African American anchor on the 6 o’clock news,” she said. “I am incredibly grateful for my colleagues and bosses at New York’s Fox5 and WABC. I have had a historic career at leading stations across the country, from production assistant at WDVM in 1984 to primetime anchor today,” she added. “As my countdown with Fox5 begins, I look forward to my final weeks and will borrow a phrase from Serena Williams by simply saying, ‘I’m evolving.’”
“It was divine intervention which brought Lori to Fox5,” said Lew Leone svp and gm of WNYW. “She is a tremendous talent and a legend in the NY Market. Her incredible combination of kindness, caring, dedication and sense of service will be truly missed. We wish her and her family a great next chapter.”
Before working at WABC, Stokes worked at MSNBC/NBC. While there, she reported for NBC Nightly News Weekend and anchored for NBC Sunrise and Weekend Today Show. Earlier, she reported for ABC affiliate WJLA in Washington, D.C. where she served as evening anchor at six and 11 o’clock.
She was honored with the George P. Foster Peabody Award for her September 11, 2001 coverage of the World Trade Center attack and received the 2003 Congressional Black Caucus Celebration of Leadership Award for her civic service and her status as a positive role model. The New York City Mayor’s Office to Combat Domestic Violence recently honored Stokes for her entire body of work and her extensive community outreach efforts.
Her last day will be September 30.