The TV Afterlife

What do these names have in common....

Doug Allred
Tracy Grazier
Stephanie Bourland
Lachelle Yates
Vernon Fraley
Ricky Killian
John Hagerty
Kim Carpenter
Dan Loggins
Jayla Anderson
Ben Salt
Shannon Koontz
Hoyle Koontz
Amy Selby
Lynn Moorehouse
Deb Proehl
Carol Andrews

The common link with all of these people is that they have worked at Television stations in the triad, but are not currently (to my knowledge) working for a Television Station. The people on this list have worked at WGHP, WFMY, WXLV and WXII. Some of them have worked at more than one of the TV Stations.

Today I ran into one of the people on that list. The former 2 wants to know investigative reporter from WFMY Lechelle Yates is now in charge of Public Relations at the High Point Museum.

She had worked at TV stations in New Mexico, Kansas and Indiana before coming to North Carolina to work at WFMY for 6 years. But now with the PR job, she is doing what many TV people do when they are done reading, writing and relaying information to the masses.

It seems to be the natural transition, and it usually involves better money, better hours, and better benefits. And us TV types are the perfect fit for the job. We are used to dealing with all kinds of different people. We already know most of the media in the area. And we have some knowledge of disseminating information, so we could probably handle putting together a press release or two.

Of the other people on my list above;

Doug Allred the head of the PR department at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro.

Tracy Grazier is with the PR department at Alamance Regional Medical Center.

Stephanie Bourland is working in that big new building that houses the call center for Citicard.

Vernon Fraley left WFMY to go to work for the Guilford County Sheriff as a PR specialist, but is now back in the news as an Anchorman on Timewarner's News 14.

Ricky Killian was a long time Photojournalist in Davidson County for WXII and WFMY. He is now employed with the Davidson County Sheriff's Department as a Crime Scene Investigator. He was hired by former Sheriff Gerald Hege to be a video specialists for the sheriff's department. The sheriff used seized drug money to buy a video camera and editing equipment so they could create training videos and document the large drug and money seizures that were taking place on I-85. When Hege's reign as sheriff fell, Ricky quickly crossed trained into a viable and valuable posistion within the department.

John Hagerty is an Emmy Nominated and Associated Press Award winning reporter who I worked with at WGHP. We had good times together, going to cover flooding after Hurricane Floyd, and getting the Emmy nomiation and AP Award for a feature about a little boy who had a rare skin disease. John is now in the PR department for the Virginia Lottery.

Kim Carpenter was an Anchor/ Reporter for WGHP. After she left WGHP she held a position with a local gym.

Dan Loggins was a weatherman on WGHP in the late 90s. He has an insurance office in High Point.

Jayla Anderson was an Anchor Reporter who was at WFMY. I am told that she is in Chicago doing Public Relations.

Ben Salt was at WXII for many years as an Anchor and Reporter. He left WXII to go to work for the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce. Their website lists him as the Vice President of Public Policy and Communications.


Shannon Koontz was a producer at WXLV the first time it did news. She is now working in the PR department at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

Hoyle Koontz is Shannon's husband. He was a photojournalist at WXLV, but Shannon tells me he now has a successfull business called technipix producing 360 degree interactive images for websites.

Amy Selby was a reporter that I worked with in Davidson County at WGHP from 1999 to 2001. She followed her husband's career to Atlanta and now back to West Virginia. She is currently a stay at home mom with two beautiful children and no plans to get back into the TV business.

Lynn Moorehouse is another stay at home mom who left TV to follow her husband. She was an anchor at WGHP for several years but moved to Fayetteville to be closer to her husband who worked there even while she was on TV in the Triad.

Deb Proehl is the famous Big Sister to the Carolina Panther's Reciever Ricky Proehl...or is it the other way around? Deb left WGHP as an anchor reporter to sell real estate but she can currently be seen popping up from time to time on WXII doing health bits.

Carol Andrews was a long time co-anchor on the WGHP FOX 8, 5,6 and 10 o'clock news, but left several years ago to stay at home an take care of her son. She has also published a book, 'The Giggle Wind'.

And the list could go on and on. It seems like every PR person I deal with has some kind of TV background. That's a good thing.