Editor’s Note: This piece is an addition to our “A Journalist No More” piece found in our July/August 2019 issue. See the article here or on our free digital guide.Â
Have another name to add to the list? Email Editor Liz Long at llong@theroanoker.com to let her know the former journalist’s name and current occupation.
And there are others …
This list is not meant to be comprehensive, but it gives you an idea of what attracts former journalists.
Denise Allen-Membrano, formerly with WDBJ7 news and sports, now with New Moon Creative Media
Scott Ayers, ex-WDBJ7 photographer, now with Advance Auto in video production
Jenny Boone, former Roanoke Times reporter, Roanoke College and Virginia Tech public information (still does freelance writing)
Rex Bowman, Roanoke Times reporter (Pulitzer finalist), classified work for federal government
Tiffany Tartaglia Bradbury, was WSLS news director, Roanoke City Fire Department Community Engagement
Mark Brown, was WDBJ7 sports reporter, now an attorney in Knoxville
Jeremy Butterfieled, former WDBJ7 reporter, now with Access in Roanoke
Courtney Cutright, former Roanoke Times education reporter, now Northside Middle School English teacher
Sam Dean, Roanoke Times photographer; Sam Dean Photography owner
Natasha Ryan Ehrlich, was a WDBJ reporter/anchor, now a full-time mother
Teresa Hamilton Hall, former WDBJ reporter/anchor, now with AEP communications
Michael Hemphill, former Roanoke Times reporter, director of marketing Roanoke Catholic Schools
Mark Hollandsworth, ex-WDBJ photographer, now with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s office
Carol Novotny Horton, was with WDBJ7 weather, now the vice president of Kaleida Health Foundation
Grant Kittelson, formerly with WDBJ7 sports, now Library of Congress multimedia specialist
Angela Hatcher Lynch, was a WSLS and WSET reporter, now with D-Day Memorial marketing in Bedford
Lindsey Nair, former food writer with The Roanoke Times, now Washington & Lee university public information
Steve Mason, WDBJ sports, owns Red Velocity video production company in Roanoke
Meg O’Conor, was a WDBJ7 reporter and bureau chief, now has a public affairs consulting firm in Seattle
Melinda Payne, Roanoke Times and WDBJ7 reporter, City of Salem economic development director
Dawn Jefferies Owczarski, WSLS anchor and producer, leads Virginia Tech video and photography unit
Linda Scarborough, was with WSLS news and weather, now in public information at LewisGale Medical Center
Jim Shaver, WDBJ news director, Roanoke Times reporter, Goodwill executive, retired
Leslie Taylor, Roanoke Times journalist; Roanoke College PR
Steve Smallshaw, was a WDBJ reporter, now with Lynchburg city broadcast services director
Lon Wagner, Roanoke Times reporter, now with Virginia Tech Public Information
Jay Warren, ex-WSLS reporter, anchor, now the Arlington, Tex., communications department head
Chris Whitley, former WSLS sports, now Comcast Spotlight Sales
Laura Williamson, health reporter at the Roanoke Times now runs her own health communications PR firm in Northern Virginia
Lauren Wood, former WDBJ7 and WFXR producer, now works with the Roanoke College alumni department
Brad Zahar, formerly with WDBJ7 sports, now a teacher in Ohio
About the Writer:
Dan Smith is an award-winning Roanoke-based writer/author/photographer and a member of the Virginia Communications Hall of Fame (Class of 2010). His blog, fromtheeditr.com, is widely read and he has authored seven books, including the novel CLOG! He is founding editor of a Roanoke-based business magazine and a former Virginia Small Business Journalist of the Year (2005).
