MEMPHIS, Tenn. —WREG News Channel 3, Tribune Media’s CBS Affiliate in Memphis, has made two important additions to its top-rated morning news program, “News Channel 3 Daybreak.”
WREG Promoted Chief Consumer Investigator Zaneta Lowe to morning anchor, effective immediately. She joins co-anchor and meteorologist Todd Demers at the anchor desk.
Reporter Symone Woolridge also starts a newly created position: Breaking News Anchor, also effective immediately.
Lowe started at WREG in 2011 as Chief Consumer Investigator and wasted no time making a positive impact in Memphis. Her investigation into the unexplained deaths of children in the state’s care helped lead to an overhaul of the system and its public records policy.
She has also exposed unscrupulous tax preparers, unlicensed car dealers, dangerous day cares and nursing homes, and substandard living conditions in taxpayer-funded housing, prompting further action from leaders and legislators.
“I have always made it my goal to fight for people that live in and around this city because I live here too,” Lowe said. “I see this new role as another excellent opportunity to keep doing just that.”
Symone Woolridge joined WREG in 2018 as a multimedia journalist. Before that, she worked at WTVA in Tupelo, Mississippi where she won her first Associated Press Award, and was the station’s first ever weekend morning anchor. Prior to that, Woolridge worked as a producer and served as president of her college chapter of the National Association of Black Journalists.
“We created the new position, Breaking News Anchor, to make sure viewers walk out the door in the morning ready for the day—fully informed about overnight and late-breaking stories. Symone Woolridge brings a passion for local news to that seat,” said News Director Bruce Moore. “In a short time, Symone has really proven her commitment to getting stories quickly and getting them right.”
“Keeping viewers informed is very important to me. I want to be first to break the story, but only if that means we have the facts correct,” Woolridge added. “Accuracy is and always will be my first priority.”
WREG President and General Manager Ron Walter summed up the changes. “We have two extraordinary and very talented journalists joining the Daybreak team,” Walter said. “They’re edgy. They’re smart. They embrace the community, and they’re exceptionally viewer-driven.”
“News Channel 3 Daybreak” airs weekdays from 4:30-7 a.m. Lowe and Woolridge fill out the morning team with News and Weather co-anchor Todd Demers, and Traffic and Consumer Reporter Corie Ventura.
