Lyndell Elois Vaughn is an American broadcast journalist, most notable for her stint as a news anchor and reporter at

Headline News HLN is an American basic cable network. Owned by CNN Worldwide, the network primarily carries true-crime programming, recently drifting away from limited live news programming. The channel was originally launched on January 1, 1982, by Tur ...

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

from December 1984 to June 1998.

Biography

Lyn Vaughn was born in the early 1950s in

Natchitoches, Louisiana Natchitoches ( ; , ), officially the City of Natchitoches, is a small city in, and the parish seat of, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, Natchitoches Parish, Louisiana, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the city's population was ...

. She moved with her parents to Los Angeles and graduated from the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

, in 1971 with a degree in political science in June 1971. Vaughn's first job in broadcasting was as a "desk assistant" or paid intern at all-news radio station WCBS in New York. She moved to Boston in 1974 with several members of the staff when CBS launched the all-news format at its station there, WEEI. Vaughn moved into television in 1979 at CBS affiliate WNAC and stayed with channel 7 when it became

WNEV-TV WHDH (channel 7) is an independent television station in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is owned by Sunbeam Television alongside Cambridge-licensed CW affiliate WLVI (channel 56). WHDH and WLVI share studios at Bulfinch Place (near ...

in 1982. She declined an offer from WNEV to extend her contract and left Boston for

, where she became an evening news reporter and substitute anchor for

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). The two stations share studios at One Monroe Place on the north end ...

in 1983, taking a pay cut to move to the warm-weather city. Within months, she became the anchor for WXIA's 5:30 and 11 p.m. newscasts. She remained with the station until September 1984, when a major anchor shuffle saw her demoted to reporter; she charged that the new anchor lineup had too few Black people and women, while the station justified its decision with audience research. Months later, she joined the team of anchors at

. While at Headline News, she was the anchor on the air when the Space Shuttle ''Challenger'' disaster unfolded. Vaughn left Headline News in June 1998; in a letter to the ''

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ''The Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' (''AJC'') is an American daily newspaper based in metropolitan area of Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship publication of Cox Enterprises. The ''Atlanta Journal-Constitution'' is the result of the merger ...

'', she explained that she turned down a three-year renewal for personal reasons. In 1999, she joined the staff of

WTKR WTKR (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed WGNT (channel 27), an independen ...

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, leaving abruptly in April 2001. While in Norfolk, she met her husband, Wesley Vann, who worked at

Norfolk State University Norfolk State University (NSU) is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Norfolk, Virginia. It is a member of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and Virginia High-Tech Partnersh ...

. In 2004, Vaughn became the spokeswoman for Fulton County district attorney Paul Howard. During this time, she also hosted a government-access cable show.

References

External links

Photos of Lyn Vaughn at Headline News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vaughn, Lyn American television news anchors Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of California, Los Angeles alumni