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Lori Stokes is one of those journalists who you would never get tired of listening to or watching. She not only exudes so much confidence in her work but her eloquence and excellent reportage makes her your go-to anchor any day. Also a news anchor, she is one of the original presenters on MCNBC after it was launched in 1996, as well as the first African American to speak on the network.
Stokes co-hosts Fox’s WNYW New York’s Good Day New York, with Rosanna Scotto after 17 years of co-anchoring several of the WABC’s Eyewitness News programs. We have not only covered her career achievements but also her personal life herein. Go ahead and find out all about her.
Lori Stokes Bio
Born on the 16th of September 1962 in Cleveland, Ohio, the United States, Lori Stokes is one of the four children born to Jay and Louis Stokes, who was an American attorney and politician. Her father represented Cleveland as a U.S. Congressman for 30 years, until his retirement in 1999. He died in 2015, at age 90.
She has an American nationality and holds Afro-American ethnicity. Her brother Chuck Stokes is a journalist with WXYZ-TV in Detriot while her sister Angela R. Stokes serves as a Cleveland Municipal Court judge. She has another sister named Shelley Stokes-Hammond. Her uncle, Carl R. Stokes became the first African American mayor of a large American city, Cleveland, Ohio.
Lori studied briefly at Ohio State University, intending to be a novelist before moving to Howard University where she eventually majored in broadcast journalism.
Career Achievements
She started her career in 1986 initially as the medical reporter at WCIA in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois and then as the weekend co-anchor later in the year. Two years later, she joined WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina as a reporter and weekend anchor. She was with the network until 1990, gaining fame among her viewers in the state before moving to Baltimore.
In Baltimore, Lori Stokes worked as a crime and street reporter for the city’s Fox Station, WBFF-TV. From 1992 to 1996, she occupied the position of the lead female anchor of the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts at WJLA-TV which availed her hands-on experience for a full-time anchor, prepping her for such roles ahead.
Shortly after the 24-hour cable news television channel, MSNBC was launched on July 15, 1996, she landed a berth there. The channel was established to provide news coverage and political commentary on current events from NBC News. Lori Stokes did not only became one of the original anchors on the channel but the first African-American to speak on the network as well. She was a rotating newsreader for NBC Sunrise and Weekend Today. In addition, she covered the Columbine High School Massacre and the death of John F. Kennedy, Jr. in 1999 during her time on the network.
In 2000, she was replaced on MSNBC’S Today in America by a new recruit, Ashleigh Banfield, soon after she joined the cable news network. Her next port of call was New York.
Lori Stokes joined the WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News This Morning in April 2000 as a co-anchor. She joined the station as part of an effort to increase ratings on the morning newscast and help bring the broadcast to #1. On board, her first co-anchor was Robb Hanrahan but when they could not meet with the network’s expectations, Hanrahan was replaced with the weekend sports anchor Steve Bartelstein in December 2000. The new pair went ahead to reinstate the program back to its previous position. They soon took over anchoring duties for Eyewitness News at Noon.
On July 9, 2007, reporter Ken Rosato replaced her longtime partner, Bartelstein on both platforms. Three years later, the morning newscast expanded to begin at 4:30 a.m. and in 2014, the noon news followed suit with a full hour extension. This, in turn, made their already long days longer. However, in June 2015, they were relieved of their noon duties with David Navarro and Shirleen Allicot taking over. Stokes remained with WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News until August 2017 when she left after a 17-year long association with the channel.
She has since devoted her time to Good Day New York as a co-host with Rosanna Scotto on Fox-5 WNYW after joining the network in October 2017.
Lori Stokes’ Ex-Husband – Brian Thompson
Stokes is not just a fine journalist but a beautiful woman as well. Her stately figure and detailed features caught the eyes of Brian Thompson at the job interview for CBC affiliate WBTV. Two years later, the duo exchanged their connubial vows.
Thompson is also a journalist. He has been New Jersey Bureau Reporter for WNBC since 1998 and is also a substitute anchor on the network. Prior to joining the channel, he did extensive political reporting for several television stations throughout the United States. He is also a recipient of an Emmy Award and many journalism awards.
They had two lovely daughters, Nicolette Thompson and Alexandra Thompson before their divorce. As with most breakups in the entertainment and media sphere, the cause of the Thompson’s divorce was not revealed. It might as well be placed in the “irreconcilable differences” slot. The former couple has, however, remained close friends for the sake of their daughters.
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