Emmy Award–winning newscaster Alison Starling, who has been on WJLA-TV for 20 years, is leaving Channel 7 later this month.
Starling’s last day in the anchor chair will be Wednesday, November 22.
On social media, Starling posted this message: “I have some exciting personal and professional news to share with you. After 20 years at WJLA-TV and 26 years as a broadcast journalist, I’ve decided that it’s time for me to step away from the anchor desk to spend more time with my beautiful family.”
Starling, who lives in Northern Virginia and anchors the 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. newscasts, said she wanted to spend more time with her family. She and husband Peter Alexander have two daughters, 10-year-old Ava and 8-year-old Emma. Alexander is the chief White House correspondent for NBC News.
“Working in TV news is an exhilarating, but demanding job and I’m looking forward to focusing more of my attention on my family – and our girls,” Starling said in her Instagram post as she thanked viewers.
Congratulations and thanks poured in on Starling’s social media accounts after her announcement.
Fellow ABC7 anchor Michelle Marsh congratulated Starling, saying she was soak in their last few weeks together.
Robert Burton, also an ABC7 anchor, called Starling a true legend, saying he was “Lucky enough to even be in the same newscast as you. We’ll never see another Alison Starling.”
NBC4 anchor Jummy Olabanji called Starling “one of the best to ever grace the desk at ABC7! So glad we got to work together. Those girls are so lucky to have you at home more, Peter too! Enjoy this new chapter!”
Fox 5 anchor Jeannette Reyes sent Starling her well wishes, too: “One of the best in the biz! You are such an inspiration to all of us journalists. Congratulations and I’m so excited for you and the family as you transition into your next chapter.”
Responding to Starling’s post, Lauren Ricketts, a former weather person for multiple DC stations, said, “You are just one of the most beautiful people (inside and out), kind, caring, sweet — I mean the list goes on and on and of course that doesn’t even scratch the surface of your professionalism on air and your impeccable journalistic reputation. You are a gem.”
Feature image courtesy Alison Starling/Instagram
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