Lisa Fletcher is an American
television journalist
Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...
. She is an investigative reporter and news anchor who has covered stories around the world - both for ABC News as a correspondent and various major-market television stations. She was previously the host of ''
The Stream'' on
Al Jazeera America
Al Jazeera America was an American pay television news channel owned by the Al Jazeera Media Network. The channel was launched on August 20, 2013, to compete with CNN, HLN, MSNBC, Fox News, and in certain markets RT America. It was Al Jazeera' ...
based in Washington DC. She is currently with
WJLA-TV
WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...
in Washington, which is owned by
Sinclair Broadcast Group
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (SBG) is a publicly traded American telecommunications conglomerate that is controlled by the descendants of company founder Julian Sinclair Smith. Headquartered in the Baltimore suburb of Cockeysville, Maryland, t ...
.
Education and early career
Fletcher received a
Bachelor of Science
A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years.
The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...
degree from the University of Oregon in 1990. She majored in
Journalism
Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree. The word, a noun, applies to the occupation (profes ...
with a minor in
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national ide ...
.
In 1990, Fletcher began her on-air career while still in college with
KEZI-TV Kezi may refer to:
* Kezi, Iran
* Kezi, Zimbabwe
See also
* KEZI Kezi may refer to:
* Kezi, Iran
* Kezi, Zimbabwe
See also
* KEZI Kezi may refer to:
* Kezi, Iran
* Kezi, Zimbabwe
Khezi is a village in Matobo District, Matabeleland South provin ...
in
Eugene, Oregon
Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.
As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...
.
[ After graduating, she accepted a job anchoring daily newscasts for KTVZ-TV in ]Bend, Oregon
Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...
. In 1993, she returned to Eugene and KEZI where she was the main anchor and investigative reporter. She covered natural disasters, including some of the Northwest's most devastating floods and forest fires. She also anchored coverage of one of the nation's worst high school shootings, the May 1998 tragedy at Thurston High School in Springfield, Oregon
Springfield is a city in Lane County, Oregon, United States. Located in the Southern Willamette Valley, it is within the Eugene-Springfield Metropolitan Statistical Area. Separated from Eugene to the west, mainly by Interstate 5, Springfield ...
, adjacent to Eugene. The coverage she anchored of the Thurston High shootings was honored with an Edward R. Murrow Award for broadcast excellence.
TV career
In 2002, after winning an Edward R. Murrow Award for an investigative series that exposed corrupt practices among Portland immigration officials, Fletcher accepted the job as the lead investigative reporter and news anchor for KNXV-TV
KNXV-TV (channel 15) is a television station in Phoenix, Arizona, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside CW affiliate KASW (channel 61). Both stations share studios on 44th Street on the city's e ...
in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...
. She also co-hosted a Sunday morning political talk show with veteran news man Cary Pfeffer.[ Her undercover reports closed down corrupt multimillion-dollar businesses, put child predators behind bars and forced state agencies to account for millions of dollars of taxpayer money. Undercover, she also exposed serious security breaches at one of the nation's largest airports. As a result, the TSA immediately suspended, and later replaced, its Federal Security Director. The TSA took over all security checkpoints around the clock and launched a national inquiry into every airport's security procedures. Fletcher's stories also exposed lead in poker chips that are used in the world's most popular casinos. This story prompted international attention and a government investigation.]
Fletcher won the prestigious Nancy Dickerson Whitehead
Nancy Dickerson (January 19, 1927 – October 18, 1997) was an American radio and television journalist and researcher for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. As famous as a celebrity and socialite as she was for her journalism, she later ...
Medallion and a $10,000 award for her stories that exposed children abusing over-the-counter medications, resulting in their tragic deaths. Fletcher and her producer donated their $10,000 in prize money to a Phoenix area agency whose mission is to help kids stay off drugs.
In 2007, she began working as an ABC News
ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include Breakfast television, morning ...
correspondent in Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
.[ Then ABC News President David Westin said Fletcher had "a distinguished resume of hard-hitting investigative reports that have led to reforms in government and business. She's an incisive reporter and a skilled storyteller..." .] ABC News consistently featured Fletcher on ''Good Morning America
''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...
'', ''ABC World News
''ABC World News Tonight'' (titled ''ABC World News Tonight with David Muir'' for its weeknight broadcasts since September 2014) is the flagship daily evening television news program of ABC News, the news division of the American Broadcasting ...
'' and ''Nightline
''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the progra ...
''.
While reporting for ABC News, Fletcher was assigned to stories including the in-depth examination of Sarah Palin
Sarah Louise Palin (; Heath; born February 11, 1964) is an American politician, commentator, author, and reality television personality who served as the ninth governor of Alaska from 2006 until her resignation in 2009. She was the 2008 R ...
's record and standing during the 2008 presidential campaign, the Governor Mark Sanford political scandal in Argentina, the Craigslist Killer
Internet homicide refers to killing in which victim and perpetrator met online, in some cases having known each other previously only through the Internet.http://www.napavalley.edu/Projects/189/Chapter_022_4th_ed__handout.pdf Napa Valley College ...
in Boston, the OJ Simpson trial and sentencing in Las Vegas and exclusive, daily coverage of the Michael Jackson death investigation. Fletcher was the first to secure an interview with the high-profile Scientology
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. The most recent published census data indi ...
defector Jenna Miscavige Hill
Jenna Miscavige Hill (born February 1, 1984) is an American former Scientologist. After leaving the Church of Scientology in 2005, she has become an outspoken critic of the organization. She had been a third-generation Scientologist, the grandd ...
, as part of a full half-hour investigation for Nightline and exposed abuses at the nation's largest chimpanzee experimentation facility – prompting a federal investigation.
Fletcher has won many honors for her work including the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Peabody, honor the most powerful, enlightening, and invigorating stories in television, radio, and ...
, multiple Edward R. Murrow Award and numerous Emmy Awards
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 investigative journalism. She's been featured in magazines, newspapers and a PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
documentary on her work as an investigative journalist.[
On April 12, 2016, she was hired by WJLA as senior investigative reporter and to contributing to '' Full Measure''.
]
David Dao Coverage
On April 11, 2017, Fletcher was assigned a story on the past legal issues of Dr. David Dao, who was forcibly removed from a United Airlines flight on April 9, 2017. A Tweet later appeared on her account that showed many legal documents on Fletcher's desk at WJLA. The strong interest in the incident led editors across the country to assign stories on Dr. Dao. The Tweet that initially appeared on the account was later deleted and replaced with three messages from WJLA:
Hey Twitter, I know my tweet didn't sit well. I can understand how it looks one-sided. I can assure you, it's not. By covering this side of the story, we're WJLA
WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister to ...
] not defending United in any way. We'll continue to address their role in this situation. Having said that, violent threats against me - simply for giving all angles of the story - are not okay.
Fletcher indicated she would have a report on WJLA's news program, but WJLA opted not to run the story. WJLA news director Mitch Jacobs noted that there were unanswered questions that contributed to the decision to kill the story, including Dao's behavior before videos of the incident started and the apology of the United CEO. The police report filed regarding the incident says that David Dao "fought with officers before he was pulled from the plane."
Personal
Lisa Fletcher married Wayne Pacelle
Wayne Pacelle (born August 4, 1965) is one of the leading contemporary animal advocates, having founded or led a set of major animal rights organizations, negotiated agreements on animal rights with major American companies, and helped conceive o ...
, the former president and CEO of the Humane Society of the United States
The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) is an American nonprofit organization that focuses on animal welfare and opposes animal-related cruelties of national scope. It uses strategies that are beyond the abilities of local organizations. ...
, in May 2013.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Lisa
Living people
University of Oregon alumni
American television reporters and correspondents
American television news anchors
Peabody Award winners
Emmy Award winners
Al Jazeera people
ABC News
Year of birth missing (living people)
People from Eugene, Oregon
American women television journalists
American investigative journalists