By Javacia Harris Bowser | For the Birmingham Times
For Women’s History Month, The Birmingham Times highlights some of the most watched Black women anchors in our area. These women have dedicated their life’s work to sharing other people’s stories. Now, it’s time to share their stories.
Gone are the days when Black women were hard to find on TV news. Not only can Birmingham residents get news from veteran journalists, but local stations are also home to Black women who are rising stars in the business.
In fact, Brittany Dionne, weekend evening anchor for WBRC, was awarded the Young Alumni Rising Star Award in 2023 from her alma mater the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). “That felt good,” she said of the recognition. “That’s the thing about being home — you’re representing your community in a different way.”
Working as a news anchor in her hometown is as rewarding as it is challenging, Dionne said.
“Being home makes me feel so accomplished,” she said. “Everything that is ‘Magic City’, I try to embody that. I don’t care what part of town you’re from, if you put your mind to something, it’s attainable. I’m a product of this city, and I’m a product of Birmingham City Schools and Jefferson County Schools.”
Growing up in Fairfield and Roebuck, the E.B. Erwin High School graduate also attended Huffman High School, Smith Middle School and North Roebuck Elementary School.
“When I’m out women come up to me and say, ‘We are so proud of you and how you represent us,’” she said.
But there’s a downside to being a journalist in your hometown.
Because of her connection to the city, when bad things happen, she often knows the people affected. “Because it’s home, it’s not just a story,” she said.
Fortunately, her connection to the city also helps when it comes to doing her job. “Trust is a major part of journalism, and they know Brittany’s not going to flip this and make this something it’s not,” she said.
On the Right Path As a child, Brittany Dionne loved watching the news and dreamed of being a broadcast journalist. “But I dropped it, thinking that wasn’t the path right I should take,” she said. So, she went to UAB to study business. Ironically, it was one of her business professors, impressed by her class presentation skills, who recommended she try broadcast journalism. She signed up for a communications class and had the chance to visit a newsroom.
“We went to one of the local stations and as soon as I stepped into a newsroom, I thought, ‘I’m going the wrong way [career-wise]. I’ve got to redirect my path,” she said. “I loved the hustle and bustle of it.”
Seeing news break and hearing the sound of the police scanner and even the clicking of reporters hurriedly typing scripts lit a fire in her, she said.
(Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)
“We Don’t Quit”: After college, she worked in Columbus, Georgia, where she “didn’t know a soul” from 2011 to 2015 as a multimedia journalist.
“It was tough in that market, very demanding,” she said. “Many days, I would call my mom crying, and she would just start praying on the phone, and then she would say, ‘Now get to it, because we don’t quit.’”
And Dionne did not quit. From 2015 to 2018, she worked in Jacksonville, Florida, an even more challenging role. “Florida is a beast of the market,” she said. “There’s always something happening and it’s hot 11 months out of the year. It’s kind of brutal.”
During her time there she was sent to Orlando to cover the Pulse nightclub massacre, a mass shooting that killed 49 and wounded 58 more. She impressed her bosses with her work and was promoted. Also, while in Jacksonville, she was part of coverage that earned the news team the prestigious Regional Edward R. Murrow award for Hurricane Matthew coverage.
Advocacy Journalism: In 2019, she made her way back home and joined WBRC 6 News as a Weekend Evening Anchor. She was promoted to Weekday Evening Anchor in 2023.
“I consider myself an advocacy journalist because I go after stories where I can help people,” she said, adding that this is why she loves WBRC’s “On Your Side” brand.
At WBRC, she gets to follow in the footsteps of women she’s long looked up to such as her colleague Sarah Verser, former WBRC anchor Ronda Robinson, former WBMA ABC 33/40 anchor Linda Mays and WIAT CBS 42 anchor Sherri Jackson.
Outside the Box: Dionne recalls a time when Black women were discouraged from wearing their natural hair on air. In fact, when she wore an afro during an internship, she was told by the news director, “You’re not going to get a job with hair like that.”
She said she feels she’s never fit the aesthetic that was once promoted in broadcast journalism. “I have big eyes and big lips – all things that I love because they’re my mom’s and dad’s features, but I have never fit inside that box, and I had to navigate that.”
She’s happy that things have changed. She can wear braids on air in the summer, and her station manager raves about how great they look.
“Now you see all types of women, all body sizes, all skin tones, all hairdos, and it makes me happy and so proud,” she said. “It’s beautiful.”
Brittany Dionne can be seen on WBRC Fox 6 weekday evenings for First at 9 and WBRC News at 10.
More Women to Watch
These women are rising stars in broadcast journalism, working to make their mark in Birmingham.
Kayla Davis joined WVTM NBC 13 in 2025 as a weekend morning anchor and weekday reporter. Before coming to Birmingham, she spent two years a reporter in Northwest Arkansas, where she covered the state’s maternal mortality crisis, broke down complex ballot measures during the 2024 election, and reported from the ground after deadly tornadoes tore through the state in May 2024.
Ashonti Ford is an Evening Anchor at WBMA ABC 33/40. The California native has more than a decade of experience in television news, with a career spanning national and local coverage — including time spent as a National Correspondent in Washington, D.C. Her reporting has earned multiple Pulitzer Center grants, with projects highlighting wrongful convictions in Chicago, the legacy of Black Cowboys in America, the domestic violence crisis in Puerto Rico, and the experiences of Jamaican migrant workers during the pandemic.
Anchor/reporter Kristen McIntosh is a member of the morning news team at WIAT CBS 42, Birmingham native and University of Alabama graduate. She also has experience in marketing and production.
Destiny McKeiver serves as Traffic Anchor for WBRC’s Good Day Alabama. The Jacksonville, Florida, native came to Birmingham with over 10 years of experience, including covering major events such as the 2020 Presidential Election, the death of George Floyd, the impact of Hurricane Matthew and a mass shooting at a Jacksonville, Florida Dollar General.
Tonia Michele, who studied meteorology at Mississippi State University and has a master’s in journalism from Syracuse University, is a First Alert Meteorologist for WBRC Fox 6 News. She’s also an event host and motivational speaker who’s always striving to help others #fightthestorm.
