News anchor Fred Shropshire is leaving Charlotte station WCNC. Here are his plans.
WCNC TV news anchor Fred Shropshire is leaving the Charlotte NBC affiliate for a station in a larger market.
Shropshire will join NBC 10 in Philadelphia, WCAU, as a weekday anchor and reporter on June 26, the UNC Chapel Hill graduate announced on Instagram Friday.
“While I’m excited to take this next step in my journey, I must say this wasn’t an easy choice for my family,” the 45-year-old Shropshire said. “Countless prayers and months of reflection went into this decision.”
Shropshire anchors WCNC’s 5 p.m., 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts.
He also has field-anchored major news events in the Carolinas in his eight years at the station.
Three days after joining WCNC, he field-anchored the station’s award-winning coverage of the 2015 Charleston church shooting, according to his station bio.
Weeks later, he anchored coverage of the removal of the Confederate flag from the South Carolina State House.
He also field-anchored WCNC’s coverage of the 2016 Keith Lamont Scott shooting in Charlotte and, from San Francisco, the Carolina Panthers’ 2016 Super Bowl 50 appearance.
Before joining WCNC, Shropshire anchored the 4 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. newscasts at Raleigh station WTVD-TV, according to his station bio.
“We have so much love and gratitude for our church (which will remain the same), friends, WCNC colleagues and viewers who have supported us over the years.”
12 interviews with Barack Obama
Shropshire began his TV news career at WCTI in New Bern and later worked at WXII in Winston-Salem and WGN in Chicago.
At WXII, he covered such major stories as the Jennifer Short kidnapping, the Kinston chemical plant explosion, the Air Midwest Flight 5481 plane crash and the arrest of Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph.
Career highlights also include his 12 sit-down interviews with then-U.S. Sen. Barack Obama during his first bid for the White House, according to Shropshire’s bio. He covered several tropical storms, including Hurricane Ike in Galveston, Texas.
He also reported from the 2005 World Series in Chicago, the Jena Six Rally in Louisiana and Michael Jackson’s memorial service in Los Angeles.
In 2006, Shropshire graduated from UNC-Chapel Hill with a major in journalism and was honored by UNC that year as a distinguished Nelson Benton Lecturer.
Shropshire said he’ll remain in Charlotte through mid-May.
“I’ll have plenty more to say about all of this and many people to thank personally over the next couple of months ... so stay tuned,” he said on Instagram.
“But I’ll leave you with this: I don’t ever expect to completely say goodbye to Charlotte, because by now you should all know how much I deeply care about this community.”