Best Local TV News

For nearly 40 years, Monica Pearson (formerly Kaufman) of WSB-TV has been considered the evening news anchor in Atlanta. There were others, yes, but none matched the Kentucky native's celebrity. After decades of reporting on such stories as the Atlanta child murders and the 1996 Olympics, the winner of multiple Emmy Awards and wearer of 1 million hairstyles called it a career. And Jesus, did WSB-TV celebrate. An in-studio meet-and-greet! A congressional commendation and City Hall reception and proclamation! A farewell ball! Radio interviews! And then ... tours of Monica's closets! Clips of Monica trying on boots! Shots of Monica hanging out by a lake at the home she shares with her husband. The heady hero worship was, for some reason, oddly mesmerizing once you got sucked in. less...

TV news anchors aren’t reporters. They’re readers, tasked by TV stations with the job of lending authority and likability to the copy scrolling up their teleprompters. In Atlanta, no one does it better than MONICA PEARSON. Longtime Atlantans remember when she arrived in 1975 from Louisville, Ky., as Monica Kaufman to anchor the morning local-news breaks during “The Today Show.” Even then, it was obvious there was something about her that made you stop what you were doing to watch. Today, she’s a part of the fabric of the city. Pearson’s ace in the hole is her hard-to-categorize-yet-undeniable charisma. Maybe it’s her vaguely diva-esque bearing. Maybe it’s her adventurous hairstyle choices. We’re not sure what. All we know is that whatever “it” is, she has it.

www.wsbtv.com

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You’ve heard the jokes about TV newspeople. The “blow-dries.” The “news babes.” The “rip-and-read” anchors. The “if it bleeds, it leads” sensationalists. They’re all true, but there are good journalists lurking on the edges of the tube. They may not be easy to find, but they’re there. Our guy is WSB-TV/Channel 2’s DALE CARDWELL. He broke, or helped break, the criminal investigation of former Mayor Bill Campbell, the stories that led to the grounding of Gov. Sonny Perdue’s use of state aircraft for personal flights, the accounts of corruption associated with former DeKalb County Sheriff Sid Dorsey, the stories of the financial scandal that forced Fulton Sheriff Jackie Barrett from office, as well as the “mansion fund” stories that led to former Gov. Zell Miller returning more than $150,000 to the taxpayers of Georgia. Cardwell’s been a thorn to the mighty, including DeKalb CEO Vernon Jones, and he’s even exposed the threat of terrorism at DeKalb Peachtree Airport. less...

Monica Kaufman is the Walter Cronkite, Barbara Walters and Oprah of Atlanta, all rolled into one head of hair. She's determined, dedicated and dependable. What she really is, is personable and credible and has been so for a long time, which counts where TV news comes into play as, again, the offerings can be largely indistinguishable. less...

As talking heads go, we've always been partial to David Byrne, but if we must go local, WSB's Carol Sbarge, found on the continuous CNN Headline News local updates, is a winner. Why? The best cheekbones in the business. Hate to be so superficial, but little else separates news readers. For the ladies, new WSB anchor Gulstan Dart is hunky, and the name is everything you'd want in an anchor. less...

Fox affiliate WAGA offers a local newscast that is similar to the other stations', which itself is neither good nor bad, just there. Where it currently shines, and what hopefully readers picked up on, is the Dale Russell factor. He alone is worth choosing the station if you're interested in real news. As an investigative reporter, Russell has broken a lot of big stories recently and won his due in local and national awards. less...