Robin Roberts (newscaster)

Infobox journalist


name = Robin Roberts
| caption = Robin Roberts
birth_date = birth date and age|1960|11|23
birth_place = Alabama
death_date =
death_place =
occupation = Television journalist
salary =
networth =
website = [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/story?id=128237 ABC News: Robin Roberts]
footnotes =
credits = ESPN correspondent (1990–2005)
"Good Morning America" correspondent (1995–present)
"Good Morning America" co-anchor (2005–present)

Robin Rene Roberts (born November 23, 1960) is an American television broadcaster. Roberts is the co-anchor of ABC's morning show "Good Morning America".

Biography

Early life

Roberts grew up in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where she played basketball and tennis among other sports, and graduated from high school as the class salutatorian. Her parents are Lawrence and Lucimarian Roberts. She is the youngest of four children with siblings Sally-Ann, Lawrence "Butch", and Dorothy. Her father was one of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Roberts attended Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana, graduating "cum laude" in 1983 with a degree in communications. She followed in the footsteps of older sister Sally-Ann Roberts, an anchor at the CBS affiliate WWL in New Orleans.

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 and decided to enroll. The only scholarship left was a tennis scholarship and she was promised that there would be a journalism scholarship by the time she would graduate. She went on to become a standout performer on the women's basketball team, ending her career as the school's third all-time leading scorer (1,446 points) and rebounder (1,034). She is one of the only three Lady Lions to score 1,000 career points and grab 1,000 career rebounds. During her senior season, she averaged a career-high 15.2 points per game.

Broadcasting career

Roberts began her career in 1983 as a sports anchor and reporter for WDAM-TV in Hattiesburg, Mississippi [ [http://www.austincollege.edu/NewsDetail.asp?NewsID=144&ItemID=1608 Austin College] ] . In 1984, she moved to WLOX-TV in Biloxi, Mississippi.In 1986, she was sports anchor and reporter for WSMV-TV in Nashville, Tennessee [ [http://wchs8.com/abc/gma/robinroberts.shtml WCHS ABC affiliate] ] . She was also a sports anchor and reporter at WAGA-TV in Atlanta, Georgia from 1988-1990. She was also a radio host for radio station V103 while in Atlanta.

ESPN and ABC News

She joined ESPN as a sportscaster in February 1990, and began to work for ABC News, specifically as a featured reporter, for "Good Morning America" in June 1995.

For many years, Roberts worked at both ESPN and "Good Morning America", contributing to both programs. During that time, she served primarily as the news anchor at "GMA". In 2005, Roberts was promoted to co-anchor of "Good Morning America".

In the fall of 2005, 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.

Health status

On July 31 2007 Roberts announced during the live broadcast of "Good Morning America" that she had been diagnosed with an early form of breast cancer. She noticed a lump through self-examination the day they were working on Joel Siegel's farewell on "Good Morning America" (Siegel died from colon cancer). [ [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=3430554 "Good Morning America"] July 31 2007] Roberts underwent surgery August 3, and on August 9 ABC News announced she was planning to return to the anchor desk on Monday, August 13.

Roberts announced on the "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on September 5, 2007 that she is healthier now than before the cancer but still faces future treatment. She also revealed that a mammogram did not detect her cancer but a follow-up ultrasound did.

Roberts shaved her head during chemotherapy treatment. She wore a wig on "Good Morning America" because she "didn't want to distract viewers from the news." On April 21, 2008 Roberts stopped wearing the wig.

As of January 10, 2008 Roberts had completed her eight chemotherapy treatments. She then had 6 1/2 weeks of radiation treatment, which was completed as of March 28, 2008.

References

External links

* [http://www.imgspeakers.com IMG Speakers]
* [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/News/story?id=128237 Robin Roberts profile] provided by ABC News
* [http://www.nwhp.org/tlp/biographies/roberts/roberts-bio.html National Women's History Project biography]
* [http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/HurricaneKatrina/story?id=1088429 Roberts Q&A on post-Katrina trip]

sequence
list = "Good Morning America" co-anchor
2005 – Present
with Charles Gibson (until June 28 2006), and Diane Sawyer
prev = Charles Gibson and Diane Sawyer
next = Incumbent