NEW ORLEANS WWL-TV is proud to announce veteran journalist Melanie Hebert will become part of the Eyewitness News team in 2012.
Starting in July, she will pair with Mike Hoss to co-anchor the Eyewitness News Early Edition, weekdays from 5:00 to 6:00 a.m. Melanie will then join Eric Paulsen and Sally-Ann Roberts on the Eyewitness Morning News from 6:00 to 9:00 a.m.
Melanie, a New Orleans native and graduate of St. Mary's Dominican High School and NOCCA, will initially serve as the station's Internet and Social Media correspondent beginning in January.
'I have a strong passion for what I do, and in my opinion this type of work doesn't get much better than in New Orleans, especially when New Orleans is your hometown' Melanie said.
'I am very familiar with WWL's journalistic integrity and commitment to excellence and am thrilled to be a part of the station I grew up watching.'
News Director Bill Siegel says the addition of Melanie Hebert strengthens WWL's team of local journalists.
'Melanie's intelligence, thoughtfulness, and commitment to our community fit right in with WWL's tradition of excellence. Melanie has important stories to tell and we cannot wait for her to get started,' he said.
About Melanie
Melanie Hebert returned to her hometown of New Orleans in 2008 and anchored the weekday morning news at WDSU-TVfor the past 3 years. Previously anchor of an Emmy-winning newscast in Southern California,
Melanie shot her first story for New Orleans in Anne Rice's Rancho Mirage, Calif. home during a sit-down interview with the legendary author. Soon after that Melanie was investigating unscrupulous contractors delaying Katrina recovery and solo anchoring 12-hour shifts during Hurricane Gustav. She relayed vital information across the country via Direct TV and online during Gustav's massive evacuation, and she interviewed then-U.S. Senator Barack Obama, a presidential candidate at the time, about his support for coastal protection.
Melanie anchored the top-rated morning and afternoon news programs in Palm Springs, California at the ABC affiliate KESQ. She covered the massive 2007 Sawtooth Complex Fire, the death of Former President Gerald Ford, and a 5-part series back home in New Orleans on the first anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. She also broke the story of a real estate scam victimizing more than 60 residents, an investigation that prompted several class action lawsuits and an arrest warrant. Melanie followed stories beyond the U.S. border investigating Mexican dentists and producing an undercover series on black-market pharmacies.
Beginning in the TV industry as an intern at the nationally syndicated entertainment news show 'Extra', Melanie's first on-air job was anchor of a morning news and talk show in Baton Rouge, where she also hosted and produced a weekly public affairs show. She covered the trial of serial killer Derrick Todd Lee, and she created, produced and co-anchored the two-week local Olympic newscast 'From Baton Rouge to Athens.' She was also the Creator and Executive Producer of two half-hour specials on the Miss Teen USA pageant when Baton Rouge served as the host city.
A graduate of St. Mary's Dominican High School and NOCCA, Melanie earned a Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication from Louisiana State University with a concentration in Broadcast Journalism. She minored in Photography and Dance, for which she spent part of her college career at NYU's Tisch School of the Arts. Coming from a family of Tiger fans, Melanie was a photojournalist for the daily 'Reveille' newspaper and served as captain of the prestigious LSU Golden Girls Dance Line. In 2001, the LSU student body voted her Homecoming Queen.
Melanie spent the past three years renovating a 120-year-old house, the former Boudreaux's Hardware Store, in Old Gretna. She currently serves on the board of the Jefferson Parish Children's Advocacy Center and is a member of the Advisory Board for the Plaquemines Animal Welfare Society.
She is also a member of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Society of Professional Journalists and the Radio and Television Digital News Association.
