NEW ORLEANS — WWL-TV Anchor/Reporter Sheba Turk will be leaving one LA for another as she will be moving out to Los Angeles to become a weekend anchor at KCAL-TV early next year.
Turk, who currently serves as the Morning Anchor for the Eyewitness Morning News has been with WWL for just over a decade. Her final day on air will be December 30.
Starting as a desk assistant straight out of college, Sheba initially helped with TV scripts.
She quickly proved to have telegenic charm and journalist chops and moved quickly to jobs as the traffic reporter, morning show reporter, early morning anchor and morning show anchor. Along the way she hosted her own award-winning talk show, ‘The 504.’
"For more than a decade, Sheba has been a bright spot and vibrant personality on the Morning News. That she can bring her level of energy to a marathon newscast on a daily basis is nothing short of inspirational," said Executive News Director Keith Esparros.
Turk also has a wide range of talents that can include grilling local leaders and officials to dancing and singing along with Chef Kevin and the morning show crew.
Those who have seen Sheba – both on air and off – have often thought that she could easily make her way to larger markets and larger paydays. It’s something that Turk says she never even thought about. Remarkably she said she’s never gotten a firm offer and doesn’t even have an agent.
“I’d get people saying you can do more and I’d be like, ‘I’m happy here,’” she said. But the past few years have given Sheba time to think about her future. Her father, from whom she draws a lot of her personality, passed away a couple of years back and the COVID pandemic put everyone’s life on hold, giving her time to reflect.
“I don’t always want to wonder what if I had tried something else, something new,” she said Wednesday prior to getting down to the busy work of finding a place to live in Los Angeles. “It’s going to be really hard to leave home. I’m from New Orleans and I’ve lived here my entire life.”
She can also take a stand as numerous times she’s gone on social media to fiercely defend her decision to go with a natural hairstyle over the straightened hair she had worn for years. She’s encountered her fair share of Twitter trolls and says, she actually enjoys them.
“Oh great, I get to get on my soapbox,” she says. “It lets me say, “Okay, let me teach you that what you’re saying is out of ignorance and if you’re angry about the hair growing out of my head, then something else is going on.
“I came into the news business green. I hadn’t gone to journalism school, but after several years on the air, I wanted to be my natural self. I took a leap knowing there would be some push back. It was a mission to be myself and to help Black women by showing they have a natural standard of beauty as they are.”
Sheba is a native of New Orleans. She is a graduate of St. Mary's Dominican and the University of New Orleans.
In September 2011, just a few months after graduation, she joined WWL-TV as an associate producer for the morning news. She spent her extra time shadowing reporters, and when the traffic reporter position came open, she jumped at the opportunity to work in a position in front of the camera.
"I never imagined that I would have had a chance to be a reporter at WWL-TV that early in my career. It’s still a bit surreal to be a part of the show that defines mornings for so many in New Orleans," she said.
While working in traffic, Sheba spent her extra time working on news stories. When Hurricane Isaac hit in 2012, she volunteered to help with storm coverage. Not long after, she was promoted to the morning show reporter position, doing live shots for the morning news.
Just about a year later, opportunity knocked again. There was a vacant anchor spot on the morning show. Sheba was promoted to be one of the co-anchors for the morning show.
“Sitting aside Mike, Eric and Sally was special to me. I remember watching them before school in the morning when I was in college. I would never have imagined I would be sitting with them only a few years later. They have all been extremely supportive of my career, and I have learned a lot from all of them.”
She was also given the opportunity to host “The 504.”
“It was a rare opportunity because the show was brand new, so it didn’t really have an identity yet. I really got to execute my vision.”