Deborah Ann Roberts (born September 20, 1960) is an American television journalist for the

ABC News ABC News is the news division of the American broadcast network ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast '' ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other programs include morning news-talk show '' Good Morning America'', '' ...

division of the ABC broadcast television network.

Early life and education

Roberts was born in Perry, Georgia to Benjamin Roberts, a business owner, and Ruth Roberts, a housewife. She graduated from the

Henry W. Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication The Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication is a constituent college of the University of Georgia in Athens, Georgia, United States. Established in 1915, Grady College offers undergraduate degrees in journalism, advertising, public re ...

at the

University of Georgia , mottoeng = "To teach, to serve, and to inquire into the nature of things.""To serve" was later added to the motto without changing the seal; the Latin motto directly translates as "To teach and to inquire into the nature of things." , establ ...

with a

Bachelor of Journalism The Bachelor of Journalism (B.J.) degree is a degree awarded at some universities to students who have studied journalism in a three or four year undergraduate program. In the United States, some schools that do not award the B.J. degree instead c ...

in 1982. In 1992, Roberts was awarded the University of Georgia Distinguished Alumnus Award for her rapid success as a journalist.

Career

In 1982, Roberts began her career at WTVM, a local television station in Columbus, Georgia, and then she moved on to work at

WBIR WBIR-TV (channel 10) is a television station in Knoxville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with NBC. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Bill Williams (journalist), Bill Williams Avenue in Knoxville's Belle Morris section, ...

, a local television station in Knoxville, Tennessee. From 1987 to 1990, she served as bureau chief/

NASA The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research. NASA was established in 1958, succeedin ...

field reporter/weekend news co-anchor at

WFTV WFTV (channel 9) is a television station in Orlando, Florida, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Cox Media Group alongside independent station WRDQ (channel 27). Both stations share studios on East South Street ( SR 15) in dow ...

, a local television station in Orlando, Florida. In 1990, she joined

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's v ...

as a general-assignment reporter and later served as a correspondent for ''

Dateline NBC ''Dateline NBC'' is a weekly American television news magazine/reality legal show that is broadcast on NBC. It was previously the network's flagship general interest news magazine, but now focuses mainly on true crime stories with only occasio ...

'', an NBC News

newsmagazine A news magazine is a typed, printed, and published magazine, radio or television program, usually published weekly, consisting of articles about current events. News magazines generally discuss stories, in greater depth than do newspapers or n ...

program. Roberts moved to ABC News in 1995 as a correspondent for ''

20/20 Visual acuity (VA) commonly refers to the clarity of vision, but technically rates an examinee's ability to recognize small details with precision. Visual acuity is dependent on optical and neural factors, i.e. (1) the sharpness of the retinal ...

'', a newsmagazine program, as well as an anchor for '' World News Tonight Weekend'', the weekend evening news program, and for ''

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. ...

'', the morning news program. In July and September 2006, she was a guest host on '' The View'', a talk show produced by ABC Daytime, a division of ABC. Roberts has won an

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

and a Clarion Award for her reporting. Roberts has contributed to other of the network's platforms, including ''

'', ''

Primetime Prime time or the peak time is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for a television show. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

'', ''

Nightline ''Nightline'' (or ''ABC News Nightline'') is ABC News' late-night television news program broadcast on ABC in the United States with a franchised formula to other networks and stations elsewhere in the world. Created by Roone Arledge, the prog ...

'', and '' The Katie Couric Show''. Roberts hosts ''Lifetime Live'' on

Lifetime Television Lifetime is an American basic cable channel that is part of Lifetime Entertainment Services, a subsidiary of A&E Networks, which is jointly owned by Hearst Communications and The Walt Disney Company. It features programming that is geared toward ...

, a cable and

satellite television Satellite television is a service that delivers television programming to viewers by relaying it from a communications satellite orbiting the Earth directly to the viewer's location. The signals are received via an outdoor parabolic antenna com ...

channel. In 2016, the non-fiction book, '' Been There, Done That: Family Wisdom for Modern Times'', written by Roberts and husband

Al Roker Albert Lincoln Roker Jr. (born August 20, 1954) is an American weather presenter, journalist, television personality, and author. He is the current weather anchor on NBC's '' Today'', and occasionally co-hosts '' 3rd Hour Today''. He has an in ...

, was published.

Personal life

Roberts resides in Manhattan with her husband

, whom she married in September 1995; they have a daughter and a son. Roberts has a stepdaughter from her husband's prior marriage.

References

External links

* *

Staff writer In journalism, a staff writer byline indicates that the author of the article is an employee of the periodical, as opposed to being an independent freelance writer. In Britain, staff writers may work in the office instead of traveling to cover a b ...

(April 25, 2007).
"Deborah Roberts — ABC News Correspondent"

. Accessed December 20, 2009. {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Deborah 1960 births ABC News personalities African-American journalists African-American television personalities African-American women journalists American television reporters and correspondents Living people NBC News people People from Manhattan People from Perry, Georgia Television anchors from Orlando, Florida University of Georgia alumni American women television journalists 21st-century African-American people 21st-century African-American women 20th-century African-American people 20th-century African-American women

Early life and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links