CBS 17 reporter leaves news business, a growing trend for local TV reporters
CBS 17 reporter Bridget Chapman announced that she is no longer at the Nexstar-owned station.
Chapman, a Utah native who came to WNCN in 2019, broke the news on her social media accounts Wednesday evening. Her last day at the station was Tuesday.
Chapman wrote in her announcement: “After framing my life around being a journalist for the past decade, I’ve decided it’s time to close this chapter. This industry can be tough. Local news reporters do it because they care about you and your community, which is also their community. Please be kind to them.”
Chapman also thanked viewers for their support, and said she is planning to stay in the area.
“It’s been an honor and a privilege I will forever be grateful for, from San Diego to Yakima to Memphis to Raleigh (and all the places in between). As for what’s next, I’m staying in Raleigh and will keep my social media pages up to still say hi and post more about the next chapter. “
Before coming to CBS 17, the San Diego State grad worked at stations in Memphis and Washington.
Other recent departures from the news business
The nature of the TV news business is that many come and go on a fairly regular basis, but typically, a departure means a move to another station in another market.
In the past year, though, we’ve seen a lot of local reporters quit the business for good. Here are a few:
▪ Another CBS 17 reporter and anchor Colleen Quigley, left the station in June, saying that it had become more difficult over the past year to tell tragic stories.
▪ Earlier this month, WRAL reporter Rosalia Fodera announced on social media her departure from the news business. Fedora left to attend Campbell Divinity School full-time. “This year has taken a bigger toll on me personally than I first realized,” Fodera wrote.
▪ Sloane Heffernan, a reporter and weekend anchor at WRAL, also left the news business this summer, citing shifting perspectives brought on by her experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic.
▪ Also from WRAL, anchor Kathryn Brown left the business at the end of November 2020, saying that working from home during the course of the pandemic had shown her what she was missing as the parent of young children.
▪ In December 2020, Julie Wilson, a reporter and anchor at WTVD, announced her departure from ABC11, saying that the past year during the pandemic had been difficult and had led her to “assess the direction I’m going in this life.”
This story was originally published September 30, 2021 at 9:07 AM with the headline "CBS 17 reporter leaves news business, a growing trend for local TV reporters ."
