Working at WDRB is one of the greatest joys of my life. When I moved here from Philadelphia to take the newsroom's entry-level position in 1998, I thought I'd only be here for a couple of years. But, as it turns out, Louisville is a very special city, and WDRB is a very special place. It has a way of making people stick around.
This TV station turned a Jersey girl into a Louisville lover. I made it my home and I've now been here for 26 years. Being a local journalist in a community I love is a dream. I relish walking into a buzzing newsroom every day, never knowing what to expect. I spent countless election nights calculating numbers trickling in from precincts, watching democracy take shape. I saw a city come to a standstill to pay tribute to "The Greatest" as he made his final journey home. I got to call the shots on Thunder Over Louisville and Kentucky Derby coverage for decades.
I rode out several storms with Marc Weinberg and the WDRB weather team. I got to hire former newsroom interns as full-time journalists and watch them rise to management-level positions to lead our coverage. I saw the steal of the century when Rick Bozich and Eric Crawford came here from the Courier-Journal, giving instant credibility to our sports department. I got to watch General Manager Bill Lamb build the culture at this station so that everyone in it did one more thing to make it better. In turn, I watched WDRB slowly push from a distant No. 4 station in the market to a powerful No. 1.
Some of my most meaningful days at work were the toughest for our community: the Sept. 11 attacks, the protests of 2020 and the shootings at Old National Bank. I find purpose in shining a light on what is happening in the darkest of times. When the world is uncertain, people turn to local journalists because they trust us. Knowledge of what's going on, even when it's awful, brings power. I always take comfort in that.
Working at WDRB is not just what I do. It's who I am. I don't just love it. I live for it. I never imagined leaving. Then, LMPD Chief Paul Humphrey came knocking. And that's not just a figure of speech.
Taking A Leap
I had gotten acquainted with Chief Humphrey through work and various community events. I appreciated that he made himself available to local journalists, offering to regularly come to all the newsrooms for interviews and generally making himself available like no police chief before him. When the communications director position at LMPD became available, he asked me if I would be interested. I politely said absolutely not, but thank you. He asked if I would at least listen. That's when he came knocking. On a Sunday night in December, he came to my house, introduced himself to my family and spent the next three hours explaining how he was trying to make this city better and why he thought I was someone who could help him do it. Three hours! What police chief would do that? I still wasn't interested in leaving my dream job at WDRB, but that stuck with me.
Over the next several weeks, he would share ideas aimed at making a difference in his department and in this city. It struck me that this is a chief who was born here, raised here and came up through the ranks. He had a very different perspective from the other police chiefs I had covered in all of my years. Most of those chiefs swept in here from another city on a stop to the next one. It wasn't lost on me that Chief Humphrey was seeking out someone whose news coverage had been very critical of Louisville Metro Police over the course of several controversies. I recognized when wrongdoing happened under his watch, he immediately took action. He stood for transparency and accountability, the foundations of my work at WDRB all these years. I found myself seriously thinking about the unthinkable: leaving my dream job.
I do what I do so I can make a difference in my community. I've had the privilege of doing that for a quarter of a century at WDRB. But today, I'm leaving a position, a team and a boss I love so I can try to make a difference at LMPD. It's a huge leap, but I believe in Chief Humphrey and his command staff.
The Things That Matter
As a journalist, I spent my entire career not having an opinion. I've always worked to provide balance and facts in our reporting. But as I walk away from the job and the career that I love, I'm going to do something I've never done before. I'm going to share a few of my opinions, although some of them are facts:
Local journalism matters. The people who cover this community live here, shop here, go to church and school here. They have a vested interest in making it a better place. They give up a whole lot of nights, weekends and holidays to provide you with information that is crucial to plan your day and live your life. And on those darkest days, we need them more than ever. Give thanks for them.
WDRB is the best station in the country. It is different from most others because it is family-owned. That means we get to make the decisions about the stories we cover in the way we see fit. Allan Block, the CEO, is involved in WDRB's daily operations. He leads this company after taking the helm from his father and his grandfather before that. Journalism truly means something to him. It's not often that a local news director can call the company's CEO any time of day. I've stayed here largely because of Allan and the culture he built.
Having a strong police force is important. We've seen the turn our community has taken in the past five years. Many people lost faith in the entire police department because some made bad decisions and there were not enough repercussions. An officer once told me "nobody hates a bad cop more than a good cop." There are a lot of great officers on LMPD. These men and women put their lives at risk every day to protect us. One of the most rewarding experiences I've had in this job is getting to know Officer Nick Wilt and his family. Those are heroes. On the darkest days, we need them more than ever. Give thanks for them. We can't let the bad guys win.
I believe we have an honest, great man leading the charge at LMPD. If this community backs the blue to get behind Chief Humphrey and his department, we can all start making changes for the better. I'm not just talking. I'm taking action. I've fought for transparency and accountability my entire career and I will continue to do it. I'm leaving the best job I've ever had so I can work to take on a big challenge at LMPD. I promise to do everything I can to build your trust, just as I have for so many years at WDRB.
Being a part of this newsroom for the past 26 years has been a privilege. Being asked to be part of LMPD is an honor. I'll shed a lot of tears as I walk out the door of our buzzing newsroom this evening but I'll be back at it from a new perspective Monday. I hope to make this city proud.
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