Barbara Ciara
Encyclopedia
Barbara Ciara is a Norfolk, Va., based television journalist.
NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk
, Va., and columnist for MIX Magazine. In August 2007, she began a two-year term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists
. Ciara previously served as vice president of broadcast for NABJ – becoming the public face and voice of black journalists nationwide protesting the actions of shock jock Don Imus
during the association’s call for his removal from MSNBC
and CBS Radio in 2007. Ciara has provided analysis on CNN, CBS News, XM Radio, National Public Radio and the Tom Joyner Morning Show. As well as quotes in The New York Times and The Washington Post among others. Elected interim president of Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. in 2009.
Her career began in Tucson, Ariz., where she worked on the school newspaper at Pima Community College while also attending the University of Arizona
. During her junior year she left college to take a full time position at KZAZ-TV in Tucson, Ariz., in 1976. Over a five -year period she worked in production as an audio director and technical director, and later in news as a photographer, reporter, assignment editor, producer, noon anchor and news director. At the time, 1978, she was the youngest female and first African-American to achieve the management status of news director at a commercial television station in the Southwest. Ciara completed her degree Summa Cum Laude, at Hampton University
in 2000.
Ciara has worked at both the NBC
and ABC
affiliates in the Hampton Roads area, and she broke new ground in February 1997 when she took on the challenge of managing editor of L-N-C, a first of its kind partnership between commercial television, cable and the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. There she helped to develop a format, cross train print reporters and launch the 24-hour news channel partnership.
From the fall of 1996 to the summer of 2000, Ciara served as managing editor of the partnership between WVEC-TV and WHRO public television where her duties included producing and co-hosting the newsmagazine "This Week In Hampton Roads."
As president of NABJ, Ciara fought for a diverse newsroom, balanced coverage of the black community and increased roles of blacks in management positions.
Under Ciara’s leadership, NABJ represented over 4,100 journalists and media professionals with an annual convention and career fair containing the largest minority journalist organization in the world.
With more than 20 years of experience, Ciara has won numerous community and professional honors for her work on camera and in the community. More recently, Ciara won a 2008 regional Edward R. Murrow
and Associated Press
award for spot news coverage.
An Emmy winner for her series "Guilty Til Proven Innocent," Ciara was honored by Columbia University
Graduate School of Journalism for her reports on race and ethnicity. An embed with the US Navy covering the air assault on Afghanistan, her world of experience includes stories in Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Haiti and Mexico.
The highlights of her stateside coverage include campaign coverage, an investigation on Klan activity in Hampton Roads
, a health insurance investigation that resulted in coverage for a terminally ill man and her one on one interview with Oprah Winfrey
.
Ciara has produced a number of works that bring history into perspective with today's world, such as her award-winning documentary on "Massive Resistance" in Virginia with compelling interviews of the "Norfolk 17," the students who integrated Norfolk School in 1959.
Ciara received the 1997 Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, a 1997 Emmy nomination for "Operation Haiti" featuring children living in poverty on the island nation and a 1995 Emmy nomination for the series "Letters from the Hood," a gripping story documenting the lives of children who live in violent urban areas. Ciara has also been honored with numerous Associated Press and United Press International awards dating back to 1986, as well as a dozen prestigious "Excel" awards from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals.
Ciara is also a believer in public service and has worked with a number of non-profit organizations. She was executive producer of NABJ's first nationally broadcast awards program on Black Entertainment Television (BET) originating in Nashville, Tenn., in 1996. She has formally served on the board of the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the advisory board for the Food bank of Southeastern Virginia Inc., the Virginia Stage Company, the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
Ciara also volunteers her time to the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce, Habitat for Humanity, Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters, American Cancer Society, Candi House, the Urban
League of Hampton Roads, the Joy Fund and the Boys and Girls Clubs. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha
sorority.
Career
Ciara is managing editor and anchor of WTKRWTKR
WTKR is the CBS affiliate television station serving the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, officially known as the Norfolk-Portsmouth-Newport News DMA. The station is licensed to Norfolk and broadcasts on channel 40 . Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia...
NewsChannel 3 in Norfolk
Norfolk
Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...
, Va., and columnist for MIX Magazine. In August 2007, she began a two-year term as president of the National Association of Black Journalists
National Association of Black Journalists
The National Association of Black Journalists is an organization of African American journalists, students, and media professionals. Founded in 1975 in Washington, D.C...
. Ciara previously served as vice president of broadcast for NABJ – becoming the public face and voice of black journalists nationwide protesting the actions of shock jock Don Imus
Don Imus
John Donald "Don" Imus, Jr. is an American radio host, humorist, philanthropist and writer. His nationally-syndicated talk show, Imus in the Morning, is broadcast throughout the United States by Citadel Media and relayed on television by the Fox Business Network.-Personal life:Imus was born in...
during the association’s call for his removal from MSNBC
MSNBC
MSNBC is a cable news channel based in the United States available in the US, Germany , South Africa, the Middle East and Canada...
and CBS Radio in 2007. Ciara has provided analysis on CNN, CBS News, XM Radio, National Public Radio and the Tom Joyner Morning Show. As well as quotes in The New York Times and The Washington Post among others. Elected interim president of Unity: Journalists of Color, Inc. in 2009.
Her career began in Tucson, Ariz., where she worked on the school newspaper at Pima Community College while also attending the University of Arizona
University of Arizona
The University of Arizona is a land-grant and space-grant public institution of higher education and research located in Tucson, Arizona, United States. The University of Arizona was the first university in the state of Arizona, founded in 1885...
. During her junior year she left college to take a full time position at KZAZ-TV in Tucson, Ariz., in 1976. Over a five -year period she worked in production as an audio director and technical director, and later in news as a photographer, reporter, assignment editor, producer, noon anchor and news director. At the time, 1978, she was the youngest female and first African-American to achieve the management status of news director at a commercial television station in the Southwest. Ciara completed her degree Summa Cum Laude, at Hampton University
Hampton University
Hampton University is a historically black university located in Hampton, Virginia, United States. It was founded by black and white leaders of the American Missionary Association after the American Civil War to provide education to freedmen.-History:...
in 2000.
Ciara has worked at both the NBC
WAVY-TV
WAVY-TV, channel 10, is a television station licensed to Portsmouth, Virginia, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Hampton Roads area . WAVY is owned by LIN Television Corporation, and is a sister station to Fox affiliate WVBT...
and ABC
WVEC-TV
WVEC is the ABC affiliate television station for the Hampton Roads area of Virginia, which includes Norfolk, Portsmouth, Newport News, and the surrounding area. It is licensed to Hampton, with its main studio in downtown Norfolk. Its transmitter is located in Suffolk, Virginia...
affiliates in the Hampton Roads area, and she broke new ground in February 1997 when she took on the challenge of managing editor of L-N-C, a first of its kind partnership between commercial television, cable and the Virginian-Pilot newspaper. There she helped to develop a format, cross train print reporters and launch the 24-hour news channel partnership.
From the fall of 1996 to the summer of 2000, Ciara served as managing editor of the partnership between WVEC-TV and WHRO public television where her duties included producing and co-hosting the newsmagazine "This Week In Hampton Roads."
As president of NABJ, Ciara fought for a diverse newsroom, balanced coverage of the black community and increased roles of blacks in management positions.
Under Ciara’s leadership, NABJ represented over 4,100 journalists and media professionals with an annual convention and career fair containing the largest minority journalist organization in the world.
With more than 20 years of experience, Ciara has won numerous community and professional honors for her work on camera and in the community. More recently, Ciara won a 2008 regional Edward R. Murrow
Edward R. Murrow
Edward Roscoe Murrow, KBE was an American broadcast journalist. He first came to prominence with a series of radio news broadcasts during World War II, which were followed by millions of listeners in the United States and Canada.Fellow journalists Eric Sevareid, Ed Bliss, and Alexander Kendrick...
and Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
award for spot news coverage.
An Emmy winner for her series "Guilty Til Proven Innocent," Ciara was honored by Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
Graduate School of Journalism for her reports on race and ethnicity. An embed with the US Navy covering the air assault on Afghanistan, her world of experience includes stories in Cuba, Saudi Arabia, Europe, Haiti and Mexico.
The highlights of her stateside coverage include campaign coverage, an investigation on Klan activity in Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is the name for both a body of water and the Norfolk–Virginia Beach metropolitan area which surrounds it in southeastern Virginia, United States...
, a health insurance investigation that resulted in coverage for a terminally ill man and her one on one interview with Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey is an American media proprietor, talk show host, actress, producer and philanthropist. Winfrey is best known for her self-titled, multi-award-winning talk show, which has become the highest-rated program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011...
.
Ciara has produced a number of works that bring history into perspective with today's world, such as her award-winning documentary on "Massive Resistance" in Virginia with compelling interviews of the "Norfolk 17," the students who integrated Norfolk School in 1959.
Ciara received the 1997 Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio and Television News Directors Association, a 1997 Emmy nomination for "Operation Haiti" featuring children living in poverty on the island nation and a 1995 Emmy nomination for the series "Letters from the Hood," a gripping story documenting the lives of children who live in violent urban areas. Ciara has also been honored with numerous Associated Press and United Press International awards dating back to 1986, as well as a dozen prestigious "Excel" awards from the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionals.
Ciara is also a believer in public service and has worked with a number of non-profit organizations. She was executive producer of NABJ's first nationally broadcast awards program on Black Entertainment Television (BET) originating in Nashville, Tenn., in 1996. She has formally served on the board of the Virginia Marine Science Museum, the advisory board for the Food bank of Southeastern Virginia Inc., the Virginia Stage Company, the American Red Cross and the American Heart Association.
Ciara also volunteers her time to the Tidewater AIDS Crisis Taskforce, Habitat for Humanity, Children's Hospital of the Kings Daughters, American Cancer Society, Candi House, the Urban
League of Hampton Roads, the Joy Fund and the Boys and Girls Clubs. She is also a proud member of Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...
sorority.