Michael Cogdill
{{short description|American novelist and television professional}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Michael Cogdill
| image = Cogdill.jpg
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1961|06|11}}
| birth_place = Asheville, North Carolina, U.S.
| death_date =
| death_place =
| education = North Buncombe High School
University of North Carolina at Asheville (BA)
| occupation = Journalist
Anchor
Novelist
Screenwriter
Film producer
| years active =
| spouse =Danette Luanne Cogdill
| children =
| website = https://michaelcogdill.wordpress.com/
| footnotes =
}}
Michael Cogdill (born George Michael Cogdill, June 11, 1961) is an American journalist, anchor, novelist, screenwriter, and film producer. His work as a journalist has appeared on NBC’s Today Show, CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN, and is the recipient of 32 Emmys and a Edward R. Murrow Award.{{cite news|title=Writing the next chapter: Michael Cogdill scripts life after broadcast news |url=https://greenvillejournal.com/community/writing-the-next-chapter-michael-cogdill-scripts-life-after-broadcast-news/ |publisher=Greenville Journal |date=February 17, 2022}}
Early life
Cogdill was born in Asheville, North Carolina, the son of a truck driver and a mill worker. His earliest jobs included mowing lawns, cleaning horse stalls, and working as a production assistant on film sets.[http://www.greenvilleonline.com/story/life/style/talk-greenville/2013/12/31/20-questions-with-michael-cogdill/4267731/], 20 Questions with Michael Cogdill - Greenville Online He graduated from North Buncombe High School in Weaverville, North Carolina in 1979 and then graduated cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Asheville in 1984, earning a BA degree in communications.{{cite news|title=Michael Cogdill Keynote Speaker |url=https://www.wcspeakers.com/speaker/michael-cogdill/ |publisher=World Class Speakers}}
Early television career
Two weeks after college graduation, Cogdill began his career in television, working at WECT, an NBC affiliate in Wilmington, North Carolina. He soon moved over to WWAY, Wilmington's ABC station,[http://newspapers.digitalnc.org/lccn/2014236917/1996-04-04/ed-1/seq-4/ocr/] The blue banner online resource (Asheville, NC) and later migrated to CBS-aligned WRDW-TV in Augusta, Georgia. He finally landed at Greenville, South Carolina station WYFF (an NBC affiliate) in 1989, where he cemented his position as arguably the most decorated anchorman in South Carolina history.{{cite news|title=Michael Cogdill anchors final newscast before retirement |url=https://www.wyff4.com/article/michael-cogdill-last-newscast/38344216 |date=November 24, 2021 |publisher=WYFF Channel 4}}
National acclaim
Cogdill first rose to prominence when he reported on the story of Susan Smith, a Union, South Carolina woman convicted of murdering her two young sons in 1994 (after initially claiming that an African-American man had carjacked her and kidnapped the children). Cogdill's Susan Smith: A Question of Justice (1996) garnered an Emmy, leading to appearances on NBC's Today Show, CNBC, MSNBC, and CNN.[http://www.thestate.com/news/local/crime/article13900058.html] Susan Smith: 20 years later, case still a shocker - The State, October 18, 2014[http://newsone.com/193331/top-5-the-black-guy-did-it-excuses-by-white-criminals/] Top 5 'The Black Guy Did It' Excuses by White Criminals - Newsone, May 29, 2009
Books
Cogdill is the author of She-Rain, a novel set in rural western North Carolina in the 1920s.[https://www.amazon.com/She-Rain-Story-Hope-Michael-Cogdill/dp/1600377025] She-Rain by Michael Cogdill - Amazon
Film
In 2014 it was announced that filmmaker Richard O'Sullivan had plans to develop She-Rain into a feature film with Cogdill's production company HeartStrong Media serving as a producing partner.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2004345/?ref_=nm_flmg_prd_4] She-Rain - IMDb
Awards
In addition to winning the Edward R. Murrow Award and 30 Emmys, Cogdill has received the South Carolina Broadcasters Association Star Award, a South Carolina Television Journalist Award, and has been a multiple winner of the Radio and Television News Director Association of the Carolinas Award.[http://www.wyff4.com/tv/about/wyff-4-honored-with-7-south-carolina-broadcasters-association-awards/21466570] WYFF 4 honored with 7 South Carolina Broadcasters Association awards, August 14, 2013
External links
- [https://michaelcogdill.wordpress.com/ Michael Cogdill's official site]
- [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4656971/?ref_=tt_ov_wr Michael Cogdill's IMDb profile]
References
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Category:21st-century American novelists