WATN Names Denisha Thomas News Director

Tegna ABC affiliate WATN Memphis (DMA 51), on Wednesday appointed Denisha Thomas the station’s news director, effective Oct. 13.

Thomas is joining WATN from WKYC, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Cleveland, where she has been executive producer since 2019. She was also news content producer for WKYC from 2015 to 2017, before being named executive producer at WGRZ, Tegna’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo, N.Y.

Thomas participated in Tegna’s Leadership Development program in 2019, and in August she was one of 32 journalists nationwide selected for the Poynter Institute and Washington Post’s Leadership Academy for Diversity in Digital Media.

Prior to joining Tegna, Thomas worked as a news producer at television stations in Memphis; Jonesboro, Ark.; and Columbia, Mo.

Thomas holds a Bachelor of Journalism degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists and the University of Missouri Griffiths Leadership Society.