|
For nearly
30 years, Barbara Rodgers was one of the most recognizable
newscasters on CBS 5 Eyewitness News. She started at the station
in 1979 and quickly became a popular, award-winning anchor,
reporter and show host. Before leaving CBS 5 in 2008, she
was co-anchor of Eyewitness News at Noon and host of Bay Sunday,
a weekly public affairs program where she interviewed dozens
of newsmakers, community leaders and celebrities, including
Spike Lee, Terry McMillan, Delroy Lindo and Jamie Foxx. She
also was a reporter for the Jefferson Awards, given each week
to people who have done outstanding public service. Many viewers
still remember her years as the co-anchor of CBS 5's weekend
newscasts with the late Doug Murphy from 1987 to 2000.
CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Rodgers has received numerous honors for her work and community
service, including the Frederick D. Patterson Outstanding
Individual Award from the United Negro College Fund (2008),
seven Emmy Awards from the Northern California Chapter of
the National Association of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS);
five Excellence in Journalism Awards from the National Association
of Black Journalists (NABJ); and awards for reporting from
the Associated Press, United Press International, the (San
Francisco) Peninsula Press Club and The Society of Professional
Journalists. In 2004, she received the "Pioneer Award"
from the National Coalition of 100 Black Women and the Governor's
Award from NATAS, the highest local award a journalist can
receive. That year, she was also inducted into the Golden
Key International Honor Society. In 1992, the San Francisco
Chapter of the League of Women Voters chose her as one of
its "Women Who Could Be President." She has also
been honored by the California Legislature, the National Council
of Negro Women, CityFlight Magazine and the Golden Gate Chapter
of American Women in Radio and Television, receiving AWRT's
Kudo Award for Best On-Air Anchor in 2003. Also in 2003, she
was given the national Unity Award from the Radio and Television
News Directors Association for reporting in the series "Muslims
in America," which examined cultural, civil rights and
religious issues involving American Muslims in the wake of
the 9/11 terrorist attacks. In 1993, she was chosen by the
Freedom Forum and the National Association of Black Journalists
as one of five journalists to participate in the South Africa
Journalists Exchange Program. She spent a month in that country
reporting on the changes taking place there since the end
of Apartheid.
In 1985, Rodgers was awarded the prestigious William Benton
Fellowship in Broadcast Journalism at the University of Chicago.
During her six-month leave of absence to participate in the
fellowship program, she took courses in such diverse subjects
as international relations, poetry writing and Meso-American
pre-history. "It was," says Rodgers, "one of
the most exciting and intellectually stimulating experiences
of my life." She has also been a fellow at the Aspen
(Colorado) Institute, an international nonprofit organization
dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded
dialogue through seminars, policy programs, conferences and
leadership development initiatives; and at the Poynter Institute
in St. Petersburg, Florida, which provides innovative training
programs for journalists.
Rodgers joined CBS 5 after seven years at WOKR-TV in Rochester,
New York. Prior to entering a career in broadcasting, Rodgers
headed the Business Skills Department and was an instructor
of English and communications at the Educational Opportunity
Center in Rochester. She also worked as an urban affairs researcher
and a computer programmer for the Eastman Kodak Company in
Rochester.
EDUCATION, CIVIC INVOLVEMENT
Rodgers holds a bachelor's degree in business from Knoxville
College in Knoxville, Tennessee. She did additional studies
at the State University of New York at Buffalo and the University
of Chicago. She is a member and co-founder of the Bay Area
Black Journalists Association and has served on the boards
of various organizations, including the World Affairs Council
of Northern California, the Society of Professional Journalists,
Walden House, a non-profit health and human services program
specializing in substance abuse treatment for people of all
ages and Friends of Faith, which raises funds to help low
income women diagnosed with breast cancer. She has volunteered
her time to scores of other community groups.
PERSONAL
Rodgers loves traveling and has been to scores of countries
on five different continents. She is also a confessed "foodie"
and a lover of good music--especially jazz and classical.
She is currently writing her first novel, which she calls
"an urban contemporary romance."
|
|