Romona Robinson (born 1959) is an American television

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

. She is the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

woman to anchor a nightly newscast in Cleveland, and the first solo anchor of a weeknight newscast in that city. She is a member of the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and is an eight-time recipient of the

Lower Great Lakes Emmy Awards The NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter is one of 19 regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Lower Great Lakes Chapter (formerly Cleveland Chapter) was founded in 1969. In addition to granting Emmy® Awards to pro ...

. She is currently retired, having appeared weeknights on

TV newscasts for 30 years - first on then independent station (now CW affiliate

WUAB WUAB (channel 43) is a television station licensed to Lorain, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of The CW. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD (channel 6) and Shaker Hei ...

channel 43 (1988-1997), later on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

affiliate

WKYC WKYC (channel 3) is a television station in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, affiliated with NBC and owned by Tegna Inc. Its studios are located on Tom Beres Way (a section of Lakeside Avenue in Downtown Cleveland named after the station's lon ...

channel 3 (1997-2011), and finally on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

affiliate

WOIO WOIO (channel 19) is a television station licensed to Shaker Heights, Ohio, United States, serving the Cleveland area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by Gray Television alongside low-power Telemundo affiliate WTCL-LD (channel 6) and Lo ...

Channel 19 (2012-2018).

Early life and education

Robinson was born in 1959 in Wilson City, Missouri. She was one of 10 girls and one boy in her family. Her mother, Henrietta Robinson, was a seamstress and maintained a small farm behind their house. Romona earned a bachelor's degree in broadcast journalism at Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Missouri.

Career

Robinson entered the broadcasting field in 1981 as a record player at a country-western music station in Jefferson City, Missouri. In 1982 she joined a television station as a sports reporter and weekend news anchor. In 1985 she moved to Charleston, South Carolina, to take up a television news anchor position. In 1987 she applied for a news anchor position at the new ''10 O'Clock News'' newscast at

in Cleveland, Ohio. Her demo tape included "a shot of her being wiped out by a hurricane-whipped wave", which impressed the producers due to her poise and self-confidence. Her appointment made her the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ensl ...

woman to anchor a nightly newscast in Cleveland. In 1990 she introduced a segment called "Romona's Kids", spotlighting children doing positive work for their communities, which she continues to host at

. Robinson remained at WUAB until 1997, when the station changed ownership. She left WUAB in February 1997 without another position lined up, and was hired in March by Cleveland

affiliate WKYC Channel 3. Per her contract with WUAB, she was assigned to "special projects" for five months and then began anchoring and reporting on air in September 1997. From 1999 to 2008 she co-anchored with Tim White, but when WKYC opted not to renew White's contract, Robinson became solo anchor of the evening newscasts on WKYC in late 2008, making her the first African American woman to be the solo anchor of a weeknight newscast in Cleveland. In 2011 she was one of four reporters invited to the White House for one-on-one interviews with President

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the ...

. When her contract expired on December 16, 2011, Robinson ended her 15-year affiliation with Channel 3. In January 2012 she signed with

affiliate WOIO channel 19 as their afternoon and evening anchor. Robinson left WOIO at the end of 2018.

Other activities

Robinson has been the Honorary Chair for the

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Susan G. Komen (formerly known as Susan G. Komen for the Cure; originally as The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation; often simply as Komen) is a breast cancer organization in the United States. Komen focuses on patient navigation and advo ...

since 1996. She is active in numerous communal and charity organizations, including the Diversity Center of Northeast Ohio, Coats for Kids and Shoes for Kids, and

United Way United Way is an international network of over 1,800 local nonprofit fundraising affiliates. United Way was the largest nonprofit organization in the United States by donations from the public, prior to 2016. United Way organizations raise funds ...

. She appeared in a cameo role playing a reporter in a first-season episode of the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series ''

The Commish ''The Commish'' is an American comedy-drama television series that aired on ABC in the United States from September 28, 1991, to January 11, 1996. The series focuses on the work and home life of a suburban police commissioner in Eastbridge, New ...

'', which aired on March 21, 1992.

Honors and awards

Robinson was inducted into the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame and the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. She is an eight-time recipient of the

Lower Great Lakes Emmy Award The NATAS Lower Great Lakes Chapter is one of 19 regional chapters of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. The Lower Great Lakes Chapter (formerly Cleveland Chapter) was founded in 1969. In addition to granting Emmy® Awards to pro ...

and received the 2014

Edward R. Murrow Edward Roscoe Murrow (born Egbert Roscoe Murrow; April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965) was an American broadcast journalist and war correspondent. He first gained prominence during World War II with a series of live radio broadcasts from Europe f ...

Award, together with co-anchor Denise Dufala, for breaking news coverage in reporting on the

Ariel Castro kidnappings Between 2002 and 2004, Ariel Castro kidnapped Michelle Knight, Amanda Berry, and Georgina "Gina" DeJesus from the streets of Cleveland, Ohio and later held them captive in his home of 2207 Seymour Avenue in the city's Tremont neighborhood. All ...

in Cleveland. She also received the 2008

Kent State University Kent State University (KSU) is a public research university in Kent, Ohio. The university also includes seven regional campuses in Northeast Ohio and additional facilities in the region and internationally. Regional campuses are located in ...

Diversity in Media Distinguished Leadership Award and the 2011 Woman of Achievement Award from the

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

of Greater Cleveland.

Personal

Robinson married Rodney Tyler, a technology consultant and father of two, in 2004. She and her husband are members of the Mount Zion Church in Oakwood Village, Ohio, where Robinson is often asked to say inspirational words from the pulpit.

Bibliography

References

External links

*
Facebook page"The Best of 2014: Romona's Kids"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Robinson, Romona 1959 births Journalists from Ohio Lincoln University (Missouri) alumni Living people News & Documentary Emmy Award winners People from Mississippi County, Missouri Television anchors from Cleveland