Communiqué
Former WOUB Student and Ohio University Graduate Named CBS Weekend News Anchor
< < Back to former-woub-student-and-ohio-university-graduate-named-cbs-weekend-news-anchorDuncan graduated from Ohio University in 2005
ATHENS, OH – CBS News recently announced that former WOUB student and Ohio University graduate Jericka Duncan has been named one of the anchors of the CBS Weekend News. She and fellow national correspondent Adriana Diaz started anchoring the program earlier this month. Duncan graduated from Ohio University in 2005 with a degree in communications.
“It is such an honor and blessing to get this opportunity. I’m incredibly grateful. I’ve been filling in on the anchor desk for a while and this is an opportunity for me to strengthen that muscle,” said Duncan. “It’s a welcome challenge.”
Duncan has been at CBS News since 2013. She is an Emmy-nominated journalist who has received several awards for her reporting, including two National Edward R. Murrow Awards from the Radio Television Digital News Association and honors from the Associated Press and the Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists, which named her Journalist of the Year in 2012.
Duncan has been a national correspondent for CBS This Morning and the network, based in New York. Most recently, she reported from Pennsylvania for the 2020 presidential election and interviewed the mother of Breonna Taylor, including breaking the news to the CBS audience that no one would be charged directly with Taylor’s death. She also was one of the first network correspondents on the ground in Alabama to cover the passage of that state’s most restrictive abortion bill since Roe v. Wade. Duncan provided ongoing coverage of the accusations against R. Kelly; the trials of Bill Cosby and Harvey Weinstein; the shooting deaths of four Marines and a Navy sailor in Chattanooga; the 70th anniversary of D-Day and Normandy; and a variety of national breaking news stories that have taken her outside of the United States. In 2018, she spent time in Washington D.C. covering the White House.
“I have a picture of Michele Clark, one of first African American journalists at CBS, on my desk. It’s not lost on me that I stand on the shoulders of people like her who never imagined this opportunity for Adriana and me,” said Duncan. “I’m going to do the best job I can do because of my experiences, to help further conversations. But not just the conversation about race and racism, and not just because I’m black and a woman, but because I have other experiences I bring to the table. I’m a single mom. I have lost family members to cancer. I have family members financially strapped due to the pandemic.”
Duncan was born in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father, Ronnie Duncan, is a television sports anchor, and she lived in many different cities, like Indianapolis, Columbus and Cleveland, as he followed his career all over the country.
“I grew up around TV news. I understood early on the value of people knowing what was going on in their community,” said Duncan. “I remember thinking they needed more women behind the scenes calling the shots. I always thought that is what I was going to do.”
“Jericka grew up around the hustle and bustle of TV news,” said her father, Ronnie. “I always told her that hard work pays off and asked her to repeat that mantra with energy. That’s what she lives by. She is the hardest working person I have ever seen that does television. Her work ethic is what inspires others. It has inspired me now while working at the CBS affiliate in Cleveland. She has inspired me to work harder than I ever have before.”
After graduating from Aurora High School near Cleveland, Duncan came to Athens. She doesn’t remember how she learned about Ohio University, but remembers that she knew it was the place for her.
“I visited campus, and it felt right. I knew this was where I was supposed to be,” said Duncan. “I knew Ohio University was known for communications programs and journalism. It was far enough away from home, but not too far. There have only been a few things in my life where I knew something was the perfect fit, and this was one of them.”
Duncan got involved at WOUB working on a cultural program called Sauti, which was a student-run television show that focused on topics impacting minority students on Ohio University’s campus.
“Sauti allowed me to see how it all comes together,” said Duncan. “I did all kinds of jobs. I was a producer, host, and a technical director. I realized how important it was to learn various roles, outside what you ultimately want to do. Everyone is not great at everything, and it allowed you to figure out your strengths and weakness and gain respect for everybody’s job. It really prepares young people for what they will face in the real world.”
After working on Sauti and doing a few internships in radio and television, Duncan realized that on-air journalism was where her passion was. That’s when she started doing work as a reporter and weather anchor on WOUB TV’s Newswatch.
“WOUB and Ohio University gave me the hands-on experience. While overwhelming at times, I got to work with and learn how to use equipment and understand that this is how you get things on television,” said Duncan. “I really got the training I needed at Ohio University.”