David Hammer has been named Chief Investigative Reporter for WWL Louisiana.
Hammer's accomplishments and leadership have been invaluable since he arrived at WWL in 2012. His body of work is immense. In his "Losing Faith" series, he got a pedophile priest to confess on camera and uncovered evidence of a massive clergy-abuse coverup by the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He also covered stories like "Stench of Failure," an investigation of the Jefferson Parish Landfill; "Toxic Truth," looking at air pollution in the so-called Cancer Alley between New Orleans and Baton Rouge; and "Oil and Water," his investigation of illicit oil dumping in the Gulf of Mexico.
Hammer has been awarded for his work over and over again, including five Emmy Awards, a Society of Professional Journalist's Green Eyeshade award, several New Orleans Press Club awards, and multiple Associated Press awards.
Hammer and WWL investigators Katie Moore and Mike Perlstein have also won the 2016 Emmy for a series on New Orleans' slowest-in-the-nation police response times called "NOPD: Call Waiting." The team also won the 2018 Associated Press Award for best documentary for “Down the Drain” on New Orleans’ drainage failures
“I’m honored to have this opportunity to lead WWL Louisiana Investigations into a new era and help us find the best ways to connect with our viewers and readers,” Hammer said. “Mike, Katie and I are driven by our dedication to and love for this community, and by our desire to make it a better place by holding leaders and institutions accountable. I want to make sure we can keep having that positive impact on southeast Louisiana for many years to come.”
"David is a phenomenal journalist," said WWL Louisiana News Director Nicole Waivers. "He holds the powerful to account, he works ferociously to uncover the truth, and he cares about the people of Southeast Louisiana. His stories change laws. His stories change lives."
► Get breaking news from your neighborhood delivered directly to you by downloading the new FREE WWL-TV News app now in the IOS App Store or Google Play.
