Alumna joins Weather Channel
A Journalism alumna is making a big career leap—landing a coveted news anchor position on The Weather Channel’s new morning show with former Good Morning America meteorologist Sam Champion.
Anaridis Rodriguez, MA ’11, is taking the job after working as a reporter at WWLP-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts, where she covered a historical tornado among many other severe-weather stories.
“I’m thrilled to be part of this project,” Rodriguez said. “Sam Champion is one of the leading weather anchors in the country. He has incredible knowledge.”
Anaridis Rodriguez, MA ’11, in a 2011 interview from Emerson’s Journalism Department TV control room. (Photo by Emerson College)
Rodriguez, age 29, may be the first news anchor to work specifically for The Weather Channel as it continues to diversify its broadcast lineup with expanded news and documentary-style programming. Rodriguez, Champion, and meteorologists Mike Bettes and Maria LaRosa will be on America’s Morning Headquarters weekdays from 7:00 to 10:00 am EST beginning March 17, according to the New York Times.
Anaridis Rodriguez, MA ’11 (bottom left), with her new Weather Channel colleagues: (From left) Sam Champion, Jim Cantore, Darcy Bonfils, Weather Channel president David Clark, Maria LaRosa, and Mike Bettes. (Courtesy Photo)
Rodriguez hopes her experience covering severe weather will be an asset to the broadcast.
“The show’s center is weather,” she said. “During my times as a journalist in Massachusetts we saw a tornado in Springfield. And an unprecedented October snowstorm knocked out power to more than half a million people.
“Weather is changing, climate is changing, and is impacting our lives in ways we haven’t seen in a long time,” she said. “The weather is news.”
Categories
