Chris Clark (real name Chris Botsaris; born December 9, 1938) is the former lead

news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...

WTVF WTVF (channel 5) is a television station in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, affiliated with CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Ion Television owned-and-operated station WNPX-TV (channel 28). WTVF's studios are locat ...

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and t ...

. Clark's tenure at WTVF began in 1966 (then known as WLAC-TV), and lasted until his retirement on May 23, 2007. His 41 years at WTVF makes him one of the longest-tenured anchors in American television history. Clark also served as the station's News Director during the earlier years of his career.

Biography

Clark was born as Chris Botsaris on December 9, 1938, in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,71 ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to t ...

. The grandson of

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

immigrants (his parents were both American-born Greeks), he graduated from North Fulton High School in 1957.
1957 Graduating Class List
', Fulton High School, Atlanta, Georgia As a teenager he worked bussing tables at his father's Eagle Café, across the street from the offices of

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the only major daily newspaper in the metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger between ...

. Chris heard colorful stories from the reporters that frequented the restaurant, and decided to become a reporter himself, graduating from the University of Georgia's School of Journalism in 1962. He was a member of

Alpha Tau Omega Alpha Tau Omega (), commonly known as ATO, is an American social fraternity founded at the Virginia Military Institute in 1865 by Otis Allan Glazebrook. The fraternity has around 250 active and inactive chapters and colonies in the United Stat ...

. He was asked to change his last name from Botsaris to Clark before joining WALB in

Albany, Georgia Albany ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Georgia. Located on the Flint River, it is the seat of Dougherty County, and is the sole incorporated city in that county. Located in southwest Georgia, it is the principal city of the Albany, Georgia m ...

in 1961, and would go on to anchor and report the news at WAII-TV in Atlanta (now

WXIA-TV WXIA-TV (channel 11) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is owned by Tegna Inc. alongside MyNetworkTV affiliate WATL (channel 36). Both stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north ...

) from 1964 to 1966, until an executive from WTVF (then called WLAC-TV) invited him to Nashville to interview for lead news anchor. He would serve as lead news anchor from 1966 until his retirement on May 23, 2007. Among the countries documented in his reporting: Somalia, Great Britain, the Soviet Union, Israel, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic. He also was involved in a crisis situation when Tennessee Governor Buford Ellington called him in to mediate the release of hostages held by an inmate at the state penitentiary. During his time as news director at WTVF, he was a part of the station's conversion from film to electronic news coverage. Shortly before his retirement the station became the first in the Nashville market to broadcast in High Definition. As chair of the Society of Professional Journalists Freedom of Information Committee, Chris played a role in convincing the Tennessee Supreme Court to allow an experiment with cameras in the court. That experiment persuaded the justices to allow cameras in state courts. He is currently a teacher at Middle Tennessee State University in the Media and Mass Communication Colleges.

Awards

Clark won the 1993 Emmy from the Middle Tennessee chapter of NATAS for a lifetime achievement in

broadcast journalism Broadcast journalism is the field of news and journals which are broadcast by electronic methods instead of the older methods, such as printed newspapers and posters. It works on radio (via air, cable, and Internet), television (via air, cable, ...

and also the

Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. n ...

"Broadcaster of the Year" award.

Rotary Club

Clark was a longtime member of the Downtown Rotary Club. His fellow members honored him in 1994-95 by electing him president of the club. Since his retirement, he has moved his Rotary membership to the Brentwood area chapter. He has worked for decades on behalf of the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church. Clark spent 8 years as president of the Parish Council. During his tenure as president, Holy Trinity constructed its church and fellowship hall on Franklin Road. It is the only example of

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire primarily in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantin ...

architecture in Middle Tennessee.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Chris Television anchors from Nashville, Tennessee American people of Greek descent Greek Orthodox Christians from the United States 1938 births Living people