Lori Stokes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lori Stokes | ||
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| Born | September 16, 1962 | |
| Birth place | Cleveland, Ohio | |
| Education | Howard University | |
| Circumstances | ||
| Occupation | Journalist | |
| Spouse | Brian Thompson | |
| Children | Two Children | |
| Notable relatives | Carl B. Stokes, (uncle), Louis Stokes, (father) | |
| Ethnicity | African American | |
| Notable credit(s) | Morning and Noon Anchor for WABC-TV (2000-present) with Ken Rosato | |
Lori Stokes (b. September 16, 1962) is co-anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning and Eyewitness News at Noon alongside Ken Rosato on WABC-TV in New York City. She joined the station on April 17, 2000 as part of an effort to increase ratings on WABC's morning newscast.
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[edit] Career
Lori Stokes began her journalistic career as the medical reporter and then weekend co-anchor at WCIA-TV in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois in 1986. Then, in 1988, Lori worked as a reporter and substitute anchor for WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina. There for two years, she became popular with the southerners in that state.
Next, Ms. Stokes worked as a crime and street reporter for WBFF-TV, the FOX Station in Baltimore, Maryland. Finally, Lori Stokes got hands on experience for full-time anchor as WJLA-TV's lead female anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts. She was there from 1992 through 1996.
Then Stokes went to MSNBC at the time of its inception. She was one of the original anchors on the 24-hour cable news channel when they hired newcomer "girl in glasses" Ashleigh Banfield to MSNBC in 2000 and replaced Stokes on MSNBC'S Today in America also in 2000. During her tenure at NBC News Stokes was a rotating newsreader for Weekend Today.
During her tenure at the cable station, Stokes covered the Columbine High School Massacre and the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1999.
[edit] Career in New York City
She was paired with Robb Hanrahan who, at the time, also co-anchored the station's 5 p.m. news with Roz Abrams and had previously co-anchored the morning news. The new pair, who replaced anchors Nancy Loo and David Ushery, did not work as well as WABC had hoped they would. Hanrahan was taken off the morning news in December 2000 and replaced with WABC's weekend sports anchor Steve Bartelstein.
Stokes and Bartelstein proved to work well and eventually helped bring Eyewitness News This Morning back to the number one position it had enjoyed in previous years. The pair eventually took over anchoring duties for Eyewitness News at Noon, replacing Nancy Loo and David Ushery once again.
For a brief time in 2003, Stokes was removed from the noon newscast and replaced with Sade Baderinwa. Stokes resumed anchoring the noon newscast when Roz Abrams left the station and was replaced by Sade Baderinwa.
From Tuesday, March 13, 2007 to Wednesday, July 4, 2007 (Independence Day), Stokes was the sole anchor of Eyewitness News This Morning and Eyewitness News at Noon. She was joined by a rotating roster of reporters from March until July when reporter Ken Rosato was chosen to permanently replace Steve Bartelstein. Rosato officially took over on July 9, 2007 as her morning and noon co-anchor. [1]
[edit] Trivia
- Lori Stokes is credited with being the first journalist to report the homicide of fashion mogul Gianni Versace. [2]
- Stokes has filled in for Robin Roberts as the newsreader on Good Morning America.
- On October 19, 2006 June 1, 2007, and June 27, 2007 Stokes appeared on The View as a guest co-host.
- She has two children with her former husband, WNBC reporter Brian Thompson.
- Stokes typically fills in for Sade Baderinwa on the 5 p.m. editions of Eyewitness News alongside veteran anchorwoman Diana Williams when Ms. Baderinwa is off. Lori has also covered for Liz Cho on various occasions alongside Bill Ritter.
- Lori Stokes and Diana Williams were the first two anchors to anchor the news on the revamped Eyewitness News main studio on June 20, 2007. Both worked at WBTV at different times in the 1980s.
- Stokes is best friends outside of work with meteorologist Bill Evans, former morning/noon co-anchor Steve Bartelstein and Metro Traffic Agent Joe Nolan.
- Lori Stokes is the daughter of former U.S. Congressman Louis Stokes, and the niece of former Cleveland mayor Carl Stokes (who was the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city).
- Stokes is a relative of the late R&B celebrity Rick James.
