Tony Harris (journalist)
{{Short description|American news anchor, journalist (born 1967)}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{BLP sources|date=November 2010}}
{{Infobox person
| image = Tony Harris on Sidewalks Entertainment.jpg
| caption = Harris in 2022
| name = Tony Harris
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1967|7|25}}
| birth_place = Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.
| alma_mater = University of Maryland, Baltimore County, (B.A.)
| occupation = Journalist, anchorman
| credits = Al Jazeera America News
Al Jazeera English Newshour
CNN Saturday Morning
CNN Sunday Morning
CNN Newsroom
}}
Tony Harris (born July 25, 1967) is an American journalist, news anchor, and television producer. He was notable for his time as an anchor on Al Jazeera English, Al Jazeera America, and CNN.{{cite news|url=http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/harris.tony.html|title=Anchors & Reporters - Tony Harris|work=CNN|access-date=December 27, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101028054330/http://edition.cnn.com/CNN/anchors_reporters/harris.tony.html|archive-date=October 28, 2010}}
Early life and education
Harris is a native of Baltimore, Maryland and graduated from Franklin High School in nearby Reisterstown in 1985.{{Cite web |title=Baltimore native returning to town to co-anchor WBFF's 'News at Ten' On the air: Tony Harris, who has national experience, will join Lisa Willis on first-string team, replacing Jeff Barnd. |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1996-02-21-1996052041-story.html |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Baltimore Sun|date=February 21, 1996 }} He went on to earn a BA degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.
Career
= Radio =
Harris began his career in broadcasting as radio disc jockey in his native Baltimore, Maryland on WSID-AM after dropping out of Towson State University. He later worked for sister stations WLPL in Baltimore and WOOK in Washington, DC. He continued in radio moving to WJMO in Cleveland, where he was host of a morning talk show at age 21.
= Local television =
Two years later, in 1983, Harris was hired by WJW-TV, then the CBS affiliate in Cleveland, as a reporter for its "PM Magazine" show.{{Cite web |last1=Morona |first1=Joey |last2=clevel |last3=.com |date=April 4, 2017 |title=46 more memorable TV personalities from Cleveland's past |url=https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2017/04/memorable_cleveland_tv_persona.html |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=cleveland |language=en}} He spent 10 years at WJW as co-host of the magazine and as a general assignment news reporter before leaving to join "Entertainment Tonight" where he worked until 1990.
Harris was a weekend news anchor in Cleveland, Ohio at WKYC (Channel 3){{Cite web |date=March 26, 1993 |title=WKYC Weekend Anchor Leaving for Los Angeles |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/153623941/?terms=%22Tony%20Harris%22%20and%20CNN&match=1 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Akron Beacon-Journal |page=41 |language=en}} from 1990 to 1993. During that time he won a local Emmy Award.
In 1993, Harris left Cleveland to join the original reporting team behind the Fox Network's prime time newsmagazine Front Page.{{Cite web |last=Gunther |first=Marc |date=June 26, 1993 |title=Fox Enters News Magazine Business with 'Front Page' |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/89953161/?terms=%22Tony%20Harris%22%20and%20CNN&match=1 |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Newspapers.com |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |page=C-11 |language=en}}
He returned to local news in 1996 as lead anchor for WBFF's "News at 10" in Baltimore. and then for WGCL-TV in Atlanta, Georgia, before joining CNN in September 2004.
= CNN =
Based at CNN Center in Atlanta, Harris co-anchored CNN Saturday Morning and CNN Sunday Morning with Betty Nguyen until he made the move to anchor CNN Newsroom on September 8, 2008. He was also a frequent substitute anchor on weekday news programs including American Morning. {{Citation needed|date=June 2022}} While at CNN, Harris was a member of the teams that earned George Foster Peabody Awards for coverage of the British Petroleum oil spill and Hurricane Katrina, and an Alfred I. duPont Award for coverage of the Southeast Asia tsunami.{{Cite web |date=March 30, 2016 |title=INVESTIGATION DISCOVERY JOURNALIST DISCUSSES "HATE IN AMERICA" DOCUMENTARY SERIES AT FLORIDA SOUTHERN COLLEGE |url=https://www.flsouthern.edu/news/archived/2016/humanities/investigation-discovery-journalist-discusses-hate.aspx |website=Florida Southern University}}
Harris left CNN at the end of December 2010.
= Al Jazeera =
In April 2011, he debuted as an anchor on Al Jazeera English. His first broadcast was at 16:00 GMT on April 12, 2011.{{cite news|url=http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/former-cnn-anchor-tony-harris-now-anchoring-for-al-jazeera-english_b61372|title=Former CNN Anchor Tony Harris Now Anchoring for Al Jazeera English|date=April 12, 2011|publisher=MediaBistro.com|access-date=April 12, 2011}} His first broadcast was the first regularly scheduled program ever on the network with the news at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Time.
= Special projects =
Harris began working with the Investigation Discovery Channel in 2015 for a project with the Southern Poverty Law Center.{{Cite web |date=July 30, 2015 |title=Investigation Discovery SVP: 'We're Not About Violence and We're Not About Gore' |url=https://www.thewrap.com/investigation-discovery-svp-swears-were-not-about-violence-and-were-not-about-gore/ |access-date=June 14, 2022 |language=en-US}} The first project was a special report called "Hate in America." The program, which aired on May 21, 2016, focused on an effort by anti-government groups and white supremacists to turn Montana's Flathead Valley, near Glacier National Park, into a whites-only refuge.{{Cite news |last=Priester |first=Alec M. |date=May 21, 2016 |title=What's on TV Saturday |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/21/arts/television/whats-on-tv-saturday.html |access-date=June 14, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}
Harris joined the Discovery Channel in 2017 as a host of a six-part "Investigation Discovery" series titled Scene of the Crime with Tony Harris. The format of the program featured Harris exploring how small towns in America dealt with instances of crime and violence.{{Cite web |title=Baltimore native, TV anchor Tony Harris to host new show on Investigation Discovery channel |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/features/baltimore-insider/bs-fe-baltimore-native-tv-anchor-tony-harris-investigative-discovery-scene-of-the-crime-20170405-story.html |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=Baltimore Sun|date=April 5, 2017 }}
In 2020, Harris began hosting the podcast Monster: DC Sniper.{{cite news |title=Baltimore's own Tony Harris discusses "Monster" the D.C. Sniper podcast |url=https://www.wbaltv.com/article/baltimore-s-own-tony-harris-discusses-monster-the-d-c-sniper-podcast/31073815 |access-date=April 20, 2020 |publisher=WBAL TV |date=February 4, 2020}}
In January 2021, he began hosting a program called "The Proof is Out There" which aired Tuesdays at 10:00 p.m. Eastern Time on the History Channel. The series profiles unexplained news stories from around the world, such as UFOs and unidentified creatures.{{Cite web |last=Sarner |first=Lauren |date=January 8, 2021 |title=New History show looks at 'proof' of UFOs and the unexplained |url=https://nypost.com/2021/01/08/new-history-show-looks-at-proof-of-ufos-the-unexplained/ |access-date=June 14, 2022 |website=New York Post |language=en-US}}
Personal life
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name}}
{{Al Jazeera America anchors and reporters}}
{{Al Jazeera English personalities}}
{{CNN Anchors}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Tony}}
Category:African-American journalists
Category:American broadcast news analysts
Category:Television anchors from Atlanta
Category:Television anchors from Baltimore
Category:University of Maryland, Baltimore County alumni