ABC11 anchor to retire after more than 30 years at the station. What’s next for him?
An ABC11 co-anchor who has been at the station for 32 years is retiring soon.
John Clark, who appears during the station’s Eyewitness News weekday morning broadcasts, announced the news in a Facebook post Tuesday, Nov. 12.
His last day on air will be Friday, Dec. 13, he wrote in the post.
“I’ll say more as the time draws nearer, but let me just say for now how honored I am that you have invited me into your homes all these years,” Clark wrote. “I don’t take that lightly!”
What he plans to do after leaving ABC11
“I have reached the age where I want to leave the daily news broadcast situation and to use the rest of my life for something else,” Clark told The News & Observer in a phone call.
He plans to begin working toward a master’s degree in Biblical exposition at Liberty University in January, he said. Clark will take courses online, so he won’t be leaving Raleigh.
He also said he and his wife, Val, will start a podcast sometime late next year to promote and discuss Christian faith issues.
“My faith is very important to me, so I want to use this next phase of my life to tell the good news instead of all the bad news that I’ve had to deliver over the past four decades.
John Clark’s journalism career
Before joining ABC11, Clark worked as an anchor/reporter for WKRN-TV in Nashville, Tennessee, WECT in Wilmington, North Carolina, and WFNC-AM in Fayetteville, North Carolina, according to his ABC11 bio.
The Philadelphia native has been in broadcast journalism for 43 years. He received a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Penn State University.
During his time as a journalist, Clark has interviewed several well-known people including the late historian John Hope Franklin, actor Charlton Heston, longtime “Jeopardy” host Alex Trebek and singer Smokey Robinson.
Assignments took him to Washington, D.C. — for the impeachment proceedings of former President Bill Clinton — and to Final Four games where UNC and Duke competed.
But at ABC11, the bulk of his job kept him in the Triangle, as a co-anchor of the morning news programs.
Clark’s decades-long tenure at ABC11
He has been a presence in households in the Raleigh area for decades, helping viewers navigate events such as tornadoes, hurricanes, snowstorms and protests.
“Through the years, I’ve tried to be a calm, reassuring voice to the viewers, letting them know that, ‘Hey, we’re going to get through this,’” Clark said.
At the start of his tenure at ABC11, in 1992, the morning news program was an hour. Now, Clark and his co-anchors are on air for several hours each weekday morning.
Every time the program was extended, Clark had to wake up earlier. Rising before dawn is not something he’s gotten used to, Clark said, but rather something he has learned to manage.
“There’s so many options out there for people to choose when it comes to watching their news or just watching television to begin with,” he said. “And to think that all these years they freely invited me into their homes to be a part of their situation is humbling, and it’s very, very rewarding, and I’m deeply grateful.”
Clark is the second longtime anchor at the station to retire in recent months. In October, Anthony Wilson retired after 31 years at ABC11, The N&O previously reported.
This story was originally published November 12, 2024 at 4:09 PM with the headline "ABC11 anchor to retire after more than 30 years at the station. What’s next for him?."
