Diana Williams (born July 18, 1958) is a retired American television journalist. She was a news anchor at WABC television in New York City, where she co-anchored the one-hour 5 p.m. ''

Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television news presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action video, replacing the older "man-on-camera" newscast. History Pioneered by Westinghouse The earliest known use of the ''Eyewitness New ...

'' broadcast. She also hosted the Sunday morning public-affairs program ''Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams'', which aired at 11 a.m.

Biography

Williams graduated from

Duke University Duke University is a private research university in Durham, North Carolina. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present-day city of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco and electric power industrialist James ...

Durham, North Carolina Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...

, in 1980 with a degree in economics. After interning at

WTVD WTVD (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Durham, North Carolina, United States, broadcasting the ABC network to the Research Triangle area. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, it maintains pr ...

in Durham, Williams began her television career in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most populo ...

, where she worked as a reporter at WSOC and then as a weeknight anchor at 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. at

WBTV WBTV (channel 3) is a television station in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Gray Television. The station's studios are located off Morehead Street, just west of Uptown Charlotte, and its transmitter is ...

. From 1987 to 1991, she worked at WNEV (now WHDH) in Boston, Massachusetts.

WABC

Williams joined WABC in 1991 as a reporter and eventually became a weekend anchor. Within a year, she was a co-anchor of the station's 11 p.m. ''Eyewitness News'' newscast with

Bill Beutel William Charles Beutel (December 12, 1930 – March 18, 2006) was an American television reporter, journalist, and anchor. He was best known for working over four decades with the American Broadcasting Company, spending much of that time anchoring ...

. In 1999, Williams joined Beutel on the 6 p.m. newscast as well, becoming Beutel's first co-anchor at 6 p.m. since the departure of

Roger Grimsby Roger Olin Grimsby (September 23, 1928 – June 23, 1995) was an American journalist, television news anchor and actor. Grimsby, who for eighteen years was seen on ABC's flagship station WABC in New York City, is known as one of the pioneers of ...

in 1986. Beginning in 1999, she co-anchored the 11 p.m. newscast with

Bill Ritter August William Ritter Jr. (born September 6, 1956) is an American politician and lawyer who served as the 41st Governor of Colorado from 2007 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he served as the district attorney for Denver before his ele ...

, later doing the 6 p.m. newscast with him in 2001, as well, following Beutel's retirement. Williams joined the 5 p.m. newscast in 2003, first alongside

Roz Abrams Roslyn Maria Abrams (born September 7, 1948) is a former American television news journalist. She had a long career as an anchor on ''Eyewitness News'', which is broadcast by WABC-TV, working in Manhattan. More recently she worked for WCBS-TV, al ...

, and later with Sade Baderinwa. She has traveled the world covering stories for ''Eyewitness News'', including to Ireland and Israel to report on conflicts. But most of her travels were with

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

, most notably, his historic visit to Israel in 2000. Williams also traveled with the Pope to

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. She covered the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

and for its tenth anniversary in 2011. Williams has also covered politics extensively, from the fall of New York Governor

Eliot Spitzer Eliot Laurence Spitzer (born June 10, 1959) is an American politician and attorney. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he was the 54th governor of New York from 2007 until his resignation in 2008. Spitzer was b ...

in 2008; to the elections of New York City Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

in 2001, 2005 and 2009; and New Jersey Governor

Chris Christie Christopher James Christie (born September 6, 1962) is an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, lobbyist, and former federal prosecutor who served as the 55th governor of New Jersey from 2010 to 2018. Christie, who was born in Ne ...

in 2009. She has been to every

U.S. presidential nominating convention A United States presidential nominating convention is a political convention held every four years in the United States by most of the political parties who will be fielding nominees in the upcoming U.S. presidential election. The formal purp ...

beginning with the

1992 Democratic National Convention The 1992 Democratic National Convention nominated Governor Bill Clinton of Arkansas for president and Senator Al Gore from Tennessee for vice president; Clinton announced Gore as his running-mate on July 9, 1992. The convention was held at Madison ...

in New York City. She won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

for her half-hour special called ''Dangerous Crossings'' that focused on the immigration issues along the Mexican and Arizona border. She has also won awards for her yearly

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a re ...

specials and has hosted the "Making Strides against Breast Cancer" Walk(s) for the

American Cancer Society The American Cancer Society (ACS) is a nationwide voluntary health organization dedicated to eliminating cancer. Established in 1913, the society is organized into six geographical regions of both medical and lay volunteers operating in more than ...

for over 17 years. After 29 years, Williams announced her retirement on the air. She anchored her final newscast on September 12, 2019.

References

External links

* * Staff (undated)
"Meet the TeamDiana Williams"

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains studios in the Lincoln Square neighbor ...

. Retrieved March 12, 2012. * Karger, Dave (undated)
"Duke University Alumni Duking It Out: New York Anchors Weigh In"
'' Duke Magazine''. Retrieved March 12, 2012. {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Diana Place of birth missing (living people) 1958 births Television anchors from Boston Duke University alumni Emmy Award winners Living people Television anchors from New York City People from Charlotte, North Carolina People from Manhattan People from Westchester County, New York

Biography

WABC

See also

References

External links