Robin Roberts (newscaster)
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Robin Roberts (born in Alabama in 1960) is an American television broadcaster, who is the co-anchor of ABC's popular morning show Good Morning America.
Roberts' father was one of the Tuskegee Airmen. [1] She grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis among other sports, and graduated from high school as the class salutatorian.
She then attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating cum laude in 1983 with a degree in communications. She also played on the university's women's basketball team, ending her career as the school's third all-time leading scorer with 1,446 points and 1,034 career rebounds [2], putting her into the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Roberts noted on the January 13, 2007 edition of Costas on the Radio that she was offered a scholarship to play basketball at Louisiana State University, but thought the school too big and impersonal after visiting the campus. On her way back to Pass Christian from that visit, she saw a road sign for Southeastern Louisiana University, stopped to visit, fell in love with the campus and decided to enroll.
Roberts began her career in 1983 as a sports anchor and reporter for WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi [3]. In 1984, she moved to WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi. In 1986, she was sports anchor and reporter for WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee[4]. She was also a sports anchor and reporter at WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia from 1988-1990. She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, and still makes appearances for the network on occasion. She became a contributor for ABC News in April 2002. Her sister, Sally-Ann, works for New Orleans television station WWL-TV
In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of Good Morning America after serving as news anchor and fill-in. Later that year, she anchored a series of emotional reports from the Mississippi Gulf Coast after it was devastated by Hurricane Katrina; her hometown of Pass Christian was especially hard hit, with her old high school completely reduced to rubble.
Roberts has earned three Emmy Awards for her sportscasting work at ESPN.
[edit] Trivia
She is sometimes confused with Robyne Robinson, an anchor at KMSP-TV in Minneapolis-St. Paul.
Preceded by Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer |
Good Morning America co-anchor 2005–present with Charles Gibson (until June 28, 2006), and Diane Sawyer |
Succeeded by Incumbent |
[edit] External links
- IMG Speakers
- Robin Roberts profile provided by ABC News
- National Women's History Project biography
- Roberts Q&A on post-Katrina trip
Co-Anchors of Good Morning America |
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Hartman • Dussault • Hill • Lunden • McRee • Newman • Sawyer • Gibson • Roberts |
Categories: American television journalists | American sports announcers | People from Alabama | People from Mississippi | African American basketball players | American basketball players | 1960 births | Living people | African-American television anchors | Football (soccer) announcers | Women sports announcers