A former Miami TV anchor disappeared from the air suddenly — but now she has a new job
Rudabeh Shahbazi has landed a new gig at a new network, she announced on Twitter.
The former WFOR-CBS4 evening news anchor had this to say: “Very excited to be one of the news anchors for a new national newscast on the WGN America cable network!”
Her start date at WGN, whose parent company is Dallas-based Nexstar Media Group, is Sept. 1.
Shahbazi will be based in WGN’s Chicago newsroom as one of a number of anchors on a live, daily three-hour national newscast called “News Nation,” from 8 to 11 p.m.
“ ’News Nation’ will bring viewers breaking news and live video on the most important news stories and issues impacting the nation, as well as regional and local communities throughout the U.S.,” read a release. “It will be a fast-paced newscast with a fully staffed newsroom, dedicated digital and social media teams, and experienced reporters filing stories from around the country.”
So does America need an alternative to say, CNN, right now?
Andrew Heyward, a senior research professor at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona State University, told The Los Angeles Times he wasn’t sure how receptive people would be to faces they don’t recognize.
“They are venturing into uncharted territory,” Heyward told the media outlet. “I always welcome new news programming, but I’m not sure being non-partisan is going to be a sufficient driver of audience with all the other options out there.”
Shahbazi is reportedly leaving Miami with a few hard feelings regarding her previous employer.
She left the station in May with three months left to go on her contract.
“Rudabeh was a valued and highly regarded member of our news team,” WFOR General Manager and Vice President Adam Levy told the Miami Herald at the time. “While we are happy to see her get an opportunity to advance her career and wish her continued success, we made the decision to terminate her employment once we learned she signed a deal with a competitor.”
Before her stint in South Florida, where she started on the early morning news, Shahbazi worked at stations in Los Angeles and Phoenix. She received her undergraduate degree in journalism at Pepperdine University and earned her master’s from the University of California, Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism.
To find your local WGN channel, go to https://wgnamerica.com/channel-finder.
