Karen Drew named anchor of WDIV's "First at 4" Newscast

Karen Drew named anchor of WDIV's "First at 4" Newscast

Ruth Spencer retires in December

DETROIT, Nov. 19, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Multiple Emmy and MAB award-winning journalist Karen Drew has been named the new anchor of "Local 4 News First at 4." Beginning December 21, Drew will anchor WDIV-Local 4's highly rated 4 p.m. newscast, Monday through Friday, alongside chief meteorologist Ben Bailey. This follows the recent announcement of current "Local 4 News First at 4" anchor Ruth Spencer's end of the year retirement.

Drew currently is a member of the Local 4 Defenders, the station's award-winning investigative unit. She made her mark in Detroit by uncovering government waste, busting a million dollar lottery winner who remained on welfare, exposing a local school official drinking and driving a school-issued vehicle, revealing a con artist scheme to scam people out of their money on adoption deals and uncovering crime trends in local neighborhoods.

In addition, Drew has gone diving in the Detroit River with Detroit police searching for guns, and also escaped live, on air, from a burning house.

"Karen has an incredible depth of news experience and is both relatable and a force in investigative journalism. She is one of the market's most versatile journalists," said Local 4 News Director Kim Voet.

"'First at 4' has become one of our most successful and important newscasts. We will be so lucky to have Karen at the helm. She is the perfect person to kick off our early evening block of news," said Marla Drutz, Local 4's vice-president and general manager.

Before landing at Local 4 in March of 1998, Drew started her broadcast career in Dickinson, North Dakota where she shot, wrote and edited all of her own pieces. She moved onto WHOA in Montgomery, Alabama; WTVC in Chattanooga, Tennessee and WJXT-TV in Jacksonville, Florida.

"I am so excited and grateful for this opportunity. It's an honor to be a part of the Local 4 News Team and I'm thrilled I can continue my career at a TV station with such integrity, in a city that I love! This is a dream come true," said Drew.

Drew grew up in the west suburbs of Chicago and attended Southern Illinois University. She is married and the mother to two young daughters.

About WDIV-TV Local 4
WDIV-TV Local 4 is honored to be recognized as Station of the Year by the Michigan Association of Broadcasters. Local 4 News is currently the #1 newscast at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. in Nielsen ratings for the Detroit television market, and Local 4 News at 11 p.m. is the highest-rated newscast of all NBC affiliates in the top 12 markets nationwide. Local 4's ClickOnDetroit.com is the leading breaking news and weather website in Michigan and metro Detroit's #1 TV media website.

About Graham Media Group
Graham Media Group (www.GrahamMedia.com), a subsidiary of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC), owns five local TV stations--each in a top-50 market and all recognized as news leaders--reaching 6.3% of U.S. television households: KPRC-Houston and WDIV-Detroit (NBC); KSAT-San Antonio (ABC); WKMG-Orlando (CBS); and WJXT-Jacksonville (independent). The stations also broadcast digital channels focused on classic television and operate market-leading websites, mobile sites and mobile apps that deliver breaking news, weather and community news, reaching millions of users across each platform. Graham Media Group owns SocialNewsDesk, a leading provider of social media software solutions used in more than 600 newsrooms worldwide.



SOURCE WDIV-TV Local 4

WDIV-TV Local 4

CONTACT: Donna Harper, 313.222.0643, donnah@wdiv.com, Photos available upon request.


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