Our second speaker during “media month” is Darryl Hood, news anchor at WAKA. His bio appears below.
“Darryl Hood joined WAKA as weeknight news anchor in October 2014 and anchors Action 8 News weeknights at 6 & 10PM.
Darryl is an accomplished award-winning broadcast journalist with nearly two decades of experience as a news anchor and reporter.
Darryl had known from the age of 16 he wanted a career in television news. With the support of his family, friends and the guidance of several mentors, Darryl was able to fulfill his dream of becoming part of a business that gives him a front row seat to history-making events.
Darryl began his career as a reporter for the Orange County Newschannel (OCN) in Orange County, California, prior to graduating from California State University Northridge.
From OCN, he was hired as weekend anchor/reporter for KQTV in St. Joseph, Missouri. He later took a gamble on Las Vegas, where he spent five years as an anchor and reporter. Following his stint in Sin City, he was given the opportunity to report for his dream station, KCAL-TV in Los Angeles, which also afforded him the opportunity to report for KCAL’s sister station KCBS-TV.
Darryl then went on to report for KCNC-TV in Denver, Colorado, and later headed back to Los Angeles to anchor the Emmy Award-winning weekly newsmagazine “LA This Week” for LA CityView Channel 35.
Darryl has also worked for stations in Memphis, Tennessee, and Columbia, South Carolina.
When he’s not working, Darryl enjoys traveling, salsa dancing and hanging out with friends. He’s always discovering and soaking up all the River Region has to offer and meeting many of you and telling your stories along the way.”
Last week’s presentation dealt with print media and the challenges it faces to remain relevant and viable as a business. Mr. Hood may share some of the same challenges as a mainstream local TV anchor. There are so many options for getting the news nowadays thanks to the internet. Let’s support local media for keeping us informed about issues that are close to us and where we can make ourselves heard and influence outcomes.