Lori Stokes is one of those journalists you never tire of listening to or watching. Not only does she radiate so much self-confidence in her work, but her eloquence and excellent reportage make her your anchor every day. As a news anchor, she is also one of the first MCNBC presenters after the program was launched in 1996, and the first African American to speak on the station.
Stokes co-hosted WABC Eyewitness News with Rosanna Scotto Fox’ WNYW New York’s Good Day New York after 17 years of co-hosting several of WABC Eyewitness News programs with Rosanna Scotto. Here we have not only reported on her professional successes, but also on her private life. Go ahead and find out everything about Rosanna Scotto.
Lori Stokes Bio
Lori Stokes, born on September 16, 1962, in Cleveland, Ohio, USA, is one of the four children of Jay and Louis Stokes, an American lawyer and politician. Her father represented Cleveland as a U.S. Congressman for 30 years, until his retirement in 1999, when he died in 2015 at the age of 90.
She has American citizenship and is of African-American descent. Her brother Chuck Stokes is a journalist with WXYZ-TV in Detriot, while her sister Angela R. Stokes is a judge in the Cleveland City Court. She has another sister named Shelley Stokes-Hammond. Her uncle, Carl R. Stokes, became the first African-American mayor of a major American city, Cleveland, Ohio.
Lori studied briefly at Ohio State University and intended to become a novelist before moving to Howard University, where she eventually majored in broadcast journalism.
Career Achievements
She began her career in 1986, first as a medical reporter for the WCIA in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois, and later that year as a weekend co-host. Two years later she joined WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina as a reporter and weekend presenter. She belonged to the station until 1990 and gained fame among her viewers in the state before moving to Baltimore.
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In Baltimore, Lori Stokes worked as a crime and street reporter for the municipal station Fox Station, WBFF-TV. From 1992 to 1996 she held the position of female anchorwoman for the 6:00 and 11:00 p.m. news programs on WJLA-TV, where she used her practical experience to become a full-time anchorwoman and prepared her for such roles.
Shortly after the launch of the 24-hour cable news television channel MSNBC on July 15, 1996, she landed a berth there. The channel was created to broadcast news and political commentary on current events from NBC News. Lori Stokes became not only one of the channel’s original presenters, but also the first African American to speak on the channel. She was a rotating anchor for NBC Sunrise and Weekend Today. She also covered the Columbine High School massacre and the death of John F. Kennedy Jr. in 1999 while she was at the station.
In 2000, she was replaced on MSNBC’s Today in America by a new recruit, Ashleigh Banfield, shortly after joining the cable news channel. Her next port of call was New York.
Lori Stokes joined WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News This Morning in April 2000 as co-host. She joined the station to increase the morning news program’s ratings and help make it number one. Their first co-host on board was Robb Hanrahan, but when they failed to meet the station’s expectations, Hanrahan was replaced by weekend sports presenter Steve Bartelstein in December 2000. The new couple worked hard to get the program back to its previous position. Soon after, they took over the role of moderator for Eyewitness News at Noon.
On July 9, 2007, reporter Ken Rosato replaced their longtime partner Bartelstein on both platforms. Three years later, the morning news show was extended to 4:30 a.m., and in 2014 the midday news followed with a full hour extension. This in turn extended their already long days. In June 2015, however, they were relieved of their lunchtime duties and David Navarro and Shirleen Allicot took over. Stokes remained with WABC-TV’s Eyewitness News until August 2017, when she left the company after 17 years with the station.
Since then, she has dedicated her time to Good Day New York as co-host with Rosanna Scotto on Fox-5 WNYW after joining the station in October 2017.
Lori Stokes’ Ex-Husband – Brian Thompson
Stokes is not only a good journalist but also a beautiful woman. Her stately figure and detailed facial features caught Brian Thompson’s eye during an interview for CBC affiliate WBTV. Two years later, the duo exchanged their marriage vows.
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Thompson is also a journalist. He has been a New Jersey Bureau reporter for WNBC since 1998 and is also the station’s assistant host. Before joining the station, he covered political issues in detail for several television stations in the United States. He is also the recipient of an Emmy Award and many journalism prizes.
Before their divorce, they had two lovely daughters, Nicolette Thompson and Alexandra Thompson. As with most separations in entertainment and media, the Thompsons’ reason for the divorce was not disclosed. It could just as well be classified under the heading “irreconcilable differences”. However, the former couple has remained close friends for the sake of their daughters.
