By Javacia Harris Bowser | For the Birmingham Times
According to surveys by the Pew Research Center, the share of Americans who trust in information from local news organizations surpasses the number of those who trust national news sources. This highlights the growing importance of local news media and underscores the pivotal role of local TV news anchors.
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.
Today, we’re featuring Muriel Bailey, of WBMA ABC 33/40 and Sherri Jackson, of WIAT CBS 42. On Friday, we feature Sarah Verser, of WBRC Fox 6 and Carla Wade, of WVTM NBC 13.
And on Monday we spotlight talent on the rise including Brittany Dionne, of WBRC Fox 6.
The full profiles are available in the March 5-11, 2026 print edition of The Birmingham Times and will be available on our site. Here’s a brief look at each.
Muriel Bailey, WBMA ABC 33/40
While attending Northwestern State University of Louisiana (NSULA), Bailey learned that journalism could be more than simply sharing information.
“I started to realize you can be a voice for people,” she said.
Bailey came to Birmingham in 2019 to begin her tenure at ABC 33/40, first as a weekend anchor. She was promoted to evening anchor in 2021.
“I feel like my trajectory, the flow of my career, really helped build me to this point,” she said. “Every move, every position, every station, I got something from it that made me better.”
On Changes in the Media: Bailey worries that today’s young journalists aren’t getting the same experience that helped to shape her. Post-pandemic, the broadcast media landscape began to shift, she explained, and it became easier for students to get higher ranking roles fresh out of college.
“I always try to tell aspiring journalists, ‘Don’t jump too high, too fast,’” she said. “You don’t want to get eaten alive, and then you end up getting out of the business.”
Muriel Bailey can be seen on WBMA ABC 33/40 anchoring the evening newscasts on weekdays at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 10 p.m.
4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. (Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)
Sherri Jackson, WIAT CBS 42
Soon after Jackson started in the Birmingham market, she found herself covering major news events, such as the 1998 abortion clinic bombing and the 1998 tornadoes.
Jackson also points to the CBS 42 team’s award-winning coverage of the pollution in North Birmingham and its effect on generations of families as another career highlight. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) declared the area a Superfund Site shortly after the broadcast of CBS 42’s “Deadly Deception.”
“Over the years, I learned that we can have an impact people and we can affect change by telling people’s stories,” she said.
On Changes in the Media: “I’m excited about the technology that helps communities tell their own stories,” Jackson said. “I think that’s going to be a positive change long-term for communities to get their stories out. They are not going to be so reliant on corporate America to do that. The citizen journalist has so many tools now that were not available in the past.”
That said, Jackson is concerned about a pervasive lack of media literacy: “I think the negative is that there’s so much out there that’s not necessarily properly vetted.”
Sherri Jackson can be seen on WIAT CBS 42 anchoring the evening newscasts on weekdays at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m.
Sarah Verser, WBRC Fox 6
Verser is currently on the early evening newscasts each weekday at WBRC. Before moving to those time slots, she was part of the “Good Day Alabama” team for 16 years.
As Verser was preparing to travel to Birmingham to interview for the job with WBRC in 1989, her parents were nervous. In their minds were images from 1963 of children protesting during the Civil Rights Movement and being attacked with water hoses and dogs.
“When I came and I saw how lush and green it was, met the people, and got a chance to see it for myself, I saw hope, I saw promise, I saw progress,” she said.
While many broadcast journalists move from station to station, Verser has stayed in Birmingham for more than three decades, building a lasting legacy along the way.
Asked what she loves the most about Birmingham, her answer is simple: “The people.”
Sarah Verser can be seen on WBRC Fox 6 anchoring the early evening newscasts on weekdays at 4 p.m., 5 p.m., and 6 p.m.
5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m. (Amarr Croskey, For The Birmingham Times)
Carla Wade, WVTM NBC 13
In college, Wade worked for the school newspaper and a local radio station. She also interned at a National Public Radio (NPR) affiliate station based on campus. With the NPR gig, she sharpened her writing and reporting skills and got comfortable covering politics and the courts. “It gave me a leg up when I got my first job,” she said.
After an internship at a Fox station in Oklahoma City, Wade worked for a station in Lawton, Oklahoma, from 2000 to 2001, a time she called a “humbling experience.”
She often rode around in news vans with no air conditioning, and on the weekends she both anchored and produced the evening shows.
“I wrote the entire show, and then anchored the show, and also ran a little foot pedal prompter,” she said, describing her operation of a hands-free controller used to manage the scrolling text of a teleprompter.
She answered the phones, too.
Wade can be seen on WVTM NBC 13 anchoring the evening news shows on weekdays at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 10 p.m.
Brittany Dionne, of WBRC Fox 6.
Dionne, weekday 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.”
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.
Brittany Dionne can be seen on WBRC Fox 6 weekday evenings for First at 9 and WBRC News at 10.
The full profiles are available in the March 5-11, 2026 print edition of The Birmingham Times and will be available on our site.
