Molly Turner
Black and white portrait photograph of Molly Turner taken in 1963.
Molly Turner in 1963
Born1923 (1923)
DiedJuly 21, 2016(2016-07-21) (aged 92–93)
New Jersey
Occupation(s)News anchor and reporter
Years active1951-1988

Molly Turner (1923 – 21 July 2016) was an American television news anchor and Emmy Award-winning television reporter in Florida.[1]

Career

Turner's television career began in 1951, when her mother encouraged her to audition for a Saturday morning show on Florida's WTVJ Channel 4. Turner was given the comedic role of country music singer Cousin Effie in the station's "Uncle Martin Show".[2] She later went on to producing, working on both commercials and a three-hour morning show.[3] In 1960 she became the midday anchor at rival station WLBW Channel 10.[4]

In 1969 WLBW was bought by Post-Newsweek and became WPLG. The focus of its broadcasting shifted to hard news. Turner became a television reporter, the first woman to hold such a position in South Florida.[1][4] From 1974, she began to specialise in consumer reporting.[2][5]

Throughout her working life, Turner contributed to community organisations and projects; in the late 1980s she served on the Women's Park Founders' Committee, which established Women's Park in Miami-Dade County.[6]

In 1988 she retired from news reporting.[2]

Recognition

Turner was founder and president of the Gold Coast Chapter of American Women in Radio and Television; in 1975 she was named the organisation's "Woman of the Year" and in 1986 she received its Florida Legend award.[5] In 2001 she won the Imprint Award from the Miami International Press Club.[3] She won three Emmy Awards for investigative reporting on water quality, health clubs, and the women's rights movement, and she also won a National Press Club merit award in 1997 for a series of articles on housing shortages, entitled Locked Out of the American Dream.[1][7]

In 2003, WPLG television station invited her back to the station to celebrate her 80th birthday.[4] In 2007, she was visited in her retirement home by U.S. Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Turner's former colleague Dwight Lauderdale for a presentation to acknowledge her services to local television news.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Florida's first female TV news anchor Molly Turner dies at 93". Miami Herald. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  2. 1 2 3 Jennings, Laurie (2016-07-22). "South Florida's first female news anchor, Molly Turner, dies at 93". Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  3. 1 2 "Jacksonville.com: TV pioneer Molly Turner wins Miami press club award 4/20/01". jacksonville.com. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Sun-Sentinel, South Florida. "Longtime WPLG Channel 10 anchor and reporter Molly Turner has died". Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  5. 1 2 Clark, Gerard. "Online Catalog - State Archives of Florida - Florida Department of State". archivescatalog.info.florida.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  6. ↑ "Miami-Dade County - Parks, Recreation and Open Spaces - News Release". www.miamidade.gov. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
  7. ↑ Florida, State Library and Archives of. "Molly Turner accepting National Press Club merit award". Florida Memory. Retrieved 2016-07-23.
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