John Pruitt, WSB-TV

John Pruitt retired from his anchor chair at WSB at the end of 2010 after a career spanning 46 years of covering news in Georgia. John continues to work on special projects and political commentaries for WSB, and in 2014, he marked his 50th year in television journalism. He began his television news career as a reporter and cameraman, covering major civil rights stories around the South. From 1965 to 1967, he served as an infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army in Seoul, South Korea, and Fort Gordon, Georgia. Upon his return to WSB in 1967, John resumed his reporting career, eventually rising to the position of weekend anchor. In 1973, he became anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. news. In 1978, John joined WXIA-TV as evening news anchor, but in 1994 rejoined WSB to anchor the 6 and 11 p.m. news. John anchored his last 11 p.m. newscast at WSB-TV on July 7, 2010, ending a 41-year run as a late news anchor. John has a history degree from Davidson College and has received many awards for his anchoring and reporting. He has won 10 Emmys, including Best Male Anchor and Best Documentary; five Sigma Delta Chi Quill Awards, the UPI Award for his coverage of Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign and coverage of a north Georgia airliner crash; the Georgia Winner Award for Public Service, Father of the Year, Pioneer Broadcaster Award from the University of Georgia journalism school, the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy of Radio Arts and Sciences, an Honorary Doctorate Degree in Public Service from Presbyterian College (2004) and the Distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting Award from DiGammaKappa at the University of Georgia School of Journalism (2006). John has been inducted into the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame and the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame. Some of the major stories John has covered include Jimmy Carter's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns, the Civil Rights Movement, the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the first flight of Lockheed's C5 Galaxy, the 1968 kidnapping of heiress Barbara Jane Mackle, the 1983 bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, the 1989 San Francisco Bay-area earthquake, the presidential inaugurations of Presidents Carter and Clinton, 11 Democratic and Republican conventions, and the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center. John serves on the boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) and The Nature Conservancy of Georgia. He is also active with Fix Georgia Pets and other charitable endeavors. John and his wife, Andrea, have been married for more than 4-and-a-half decades and have two daughters and six grandchildren. They have a great love of animals and have owned multiple dogs, but currently they have only one, Toby, a diabetic golden retriever they rescued in 2013.