| Diana Williams | |
|---|---|
| Born | Diana Williams Westchester, New York, U.S., |
| Occupation | news anchor at WABC-TV in New York City |
Diana Williams (born 1958) is a news anchor at WABC-TV in New York City, where she currently co-anchors the 5 p.m. Eyewitness News broadcast with Sade Baderinwa and hosts the Sunday morning public affairs program Eyewitness News Up Close with Diana Williams, which airs on Sunday mornings at 11am. She and her husband and three children reside in Westchester County, New York.
Williams graduated from Duke University in 1980 with a degree in Economics and began her television career in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she worked as a reporter at WSOC-TV and then as weeknight six and 11 anchor at WBTV. From 1987 to 1991, she worked at WNEV-TV (now WHDH-TV) in Boston.
She joined WABC-TV in 1991 as a reporter and eventually became weekend anchor. Within a year she was co-anchor of WABC's 11 PM Eyewitness News broadcast alongside Bill Beutel. In 1999 she joined Beutel on the 6 PM newscast as well, becoming Beutel's first co-anchor at 6 PM since a rotation of anchors after Roger Grimsby's firing in 1986. Beginning in 1999, Williams co-anchored the 11 PM news with Bill Ritter, later doing the 6 PM news with him in 2001, as well, following Beutel's retirement from the anchor chair. She became the 5:00 pm anchor in 2003, first alongside Roz Abrams, and later with Sade Baderinwa.
Williams has traveled around the world while covering stories for Eyewitness News. She has gone to Ireland to report on poverty there, and covered the Gulf War. She also covered the visits of Pope John Paul II to New York City and Baltimore, Maryland. [1] Williams has traveled to Israel to cover President Bush and his attempts for Mid-East peace and was in Israel for Pope John Paul II historic visit in 2000.
When Williams joined the 5 p.m. news, she was paired briefly with veteran anchor Roz Abrams, making them the first successful female evening anchor team in New York City television history. Sade Baderinwa replaced Abrams when she left for WCBS-TV, Channel 2. Recently, Williams and her son, Nathaniel, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. Williams blogged about the climb using a satellite phone and took a camera to videtape the journey. She returned with several reports on the trip. She reached the top of the mountain on July 23, 2007, just after 1 a.m. New York City time. [2]
Williams followed the 2008 Presidential Election. In 2008, she went to Washington, D.C., and then to Jerusalem to cover the mid-eastern peace talks. In addition to that, Williams and her friend, Bill Ritter were co-anchors in this election's National Conventions. Ritter covered the Democratic National Convention in Denver with Dave Evans and Sandra Bookman. Williams covered the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota with Dave Evans and Jeff Pegues.
Williams also makes appearances on Eyewitness News at Noon and covers breaking news in the afternoon, such as during Governor David Paterson's recent speech about the economic situation in New York State; the Spitzer sex scandal; and previews the stories to be featured on Eyewitness News at 5PM.
On September 23, 2008, Diana Williams received the Tanzanian Award for her daring adventures of climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2007. She has also climbed Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. This June she and her son will attempt to climb Mt Rainier in Washington State. She has received numerous Emmy's for her reporting.