Byron Pitts

{{Short description|American television journalist (born 1960)}}
{{Infobox person
| name           = Byron Pitts
| image          = Byron Pitts 2011.jpg
| caption        = Pitts in 2011
| birth_date     = {{birth date and age|1960|10|21}}
| birth_place    = [[Baltimore, Maryland]], U.S.
| education      = [[Ohio Wesleyan University]]
| occupation     = [[Television journalist]]
| years_active   = 1983–present
| spouse         =
| children       = 3
| credits        = ''[[CBS Evening News]]'' <br />''[[60 Minutes]]'' <br />''[[Nightline]]''
}}

'''Byron Pitts''' (born October 21, 1960) is an American journalist and author, working for [[ABC News]] as co-anchor for the network's late night news program, ''[[Nightline]]''.<ref>{{cite news|last=Guthrie|first=Marisa|title=Correspondent Byron Pitts Departing CBS News for ABC News|url=http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/correspondent-byron-pitts-departing-cbs-425528|access-date=31 March 2013|work=The Hollywood Reporter}}</ref> Until March 2013, he served as a chief national correspondent for ''[[CBS Evening News|The CBS Evening News]]'' and contributed regularly to ''[[60 Minutes]]''.

==Early life==
Pitts was born October 21, 1960, to Clarice and William Pitts<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=120463986 |title=Byron Pitts Found Faith To 'Step Out On Nothing'|work=NPR |date= November 16, 2009|access-date= May 24, 2010}}</ref> in [[Baltimore]], [[Maryland]].<ref>{{cite news|title= Byron Pitts |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/09/broadcasts/main524933.shtml |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060914142715/http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/10/09/broadcasts/main524933.shtml |archive-date=September 14, 2006 |work= CBS News |date=2002-10-09| access-date= 2011-06-02}}</ref>  He grew up in a working-class neighborhood, raised by a single mother.<ref name="TALENT">{{cite web|url=http://www.greatertalent.com/ByronPitts |title=Byron Pitts | website=Greater Talent Network Speakers Bureau|access-date= 2011-06-02}}</ref> In his memoir, Pitts discussed that he had a debilitating [[stutter]] as a child and was "[[Functional illiteracy|functionally illiterate]]" until about age 12.  He attended [[Archbishop Curley High School]], an all-boys [[Roman Catholic|Catholic]] high school in Baltimore. He went on to [[Ohio Wesleyan University]], but spent summers in [[Apex, North Carolina]].<ref name="OBS1">Menconi, David {{cite news|url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2009/12/17/244052/how-byron-pitts-came-out-on-top.html |title=How Byron Pitts came out on top|work= News Observer|date= December 17, 2009 |access-date= May 24, 2010}}</ref>  He graduated in 1982 with a bachelor's degree in journalism and speech communication.

==Career==
Pitts has always wanted to be a journalist. It was his goal, since he was 18 years old, to be a correspondent on the CBS show ''60 Minutes''.<ref name="OBS1"/> He interned at [[WTVD]] in [[Durham, North Carolina]]. After graduation, he bounced around to various television stations on the East Coast. During 1983–84, he reported and served as weekend sports anchor at [[WNCT-TV]] in [[Greenville, North Carolina]] He was a military reporter for [[WAVY-TV]] in [[Portsmouth, Virginia]] (1984–86) and a reporter for [[WESH|WESH-TV]] [[Orlando, Florida|Orlando]] (1986–88). He moved across the Florida peninsula to [[Tampa, Florida|Tampa]] to be a reporter and substitute [[News presenter|anchor]] for [[WFLA-TV]] (1988–89). After a brief stint there, he moved to Boston as a special assignment reporter for [[WCVB-TV]] (1989–94). His last local job was as a general assignment reporter for [[WSB-TV]] in Atlanta, [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] (1994–96).

Pitts then moved to Washington, D.C. as a correspondent for ''[[CBS News#CBS Newspath|CBS Newspath]]'', the 24-hour affiliate news service of [[CBS News]] (1997–98). He was named a CBS News correspondent in May 1998, and was based in the Miami (1998–99) and Atlanta (1999–2001) bureaus and eventually New York City in January 2001.

Pitts was one of CBS News' lead reporters during the [[September 11 attacks]] and won a national [[Emmy Award]] for his coverage. As an embedded reporter covering the Iraq War, he was recognized for his work under fire within minutes of the fall of the [[Saddam Hussein]] statue. Other major stories covered by Pitts include [[Hurricane Katrina]], the war in Afghanistan, the military buildup in [[Kuwait]], the Florida fires, the [[Elian Gonzalez]] story, the Florida Presidential recount, the mudslides in Central America and the refugee crisis in [[Kosovo]].

Pitts other awards include a national Emmy Award for his coverage of the Chicago train wreck in 1999 and a [[National Association of Black Journalists]] Award (2002). He is also the recipient of four [[Associated Press]] Awards and six regional Emmy Awards.

Pitts published a memoir, ''Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life's Challenges'' on  September 29, 2009.

==See also==
* [[New Yorkers in journalism]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Websites ==
*[https://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/byron-pitts-abc-news-official-biography/story?id=29357026 Byron Pitts Biography on] [[ABCNews.com]]
*{{IMDb name|nm2107252}}
{{60 Minutes}}
{{ABC News Personalities}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitts, Byron}}
[[Category:1960 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:African-American journalists]]
[[Category:American television journalists]]
[[Category:Ohio Wesleyan University alumni]]
[[Category:CBS News people]]
[[Category:21st-century African-American people]]
[[Category:20th-century African-American people]]