Justin Michaels joined the WTOL News 11 team in December of 2008 and serves as the Wood County Bureau Chief. He shoots and edits all of his own stories.
Michaels comes to WTOL from KCBD NewsChannel 11 in Lubbock, Tx. where he served as a reporter, anchor, videographer and editor.
Growing up in Carlisle, Pa., Justin was active in politics, student government and his high school news station. After graduating, he attended Shippensburg University where he served on the student senate three of his four years in college. He majored in public administration but knew it wasn't really his desire to get into politics.
An unexpected change after college took Justin away from a successful career in real estate: Hurricane Katrina, ravaging the Gulf Coast of the United States, provoked Justin to be on the move. He found himself in Baton Rouge, La., volunteering with the American Red Cross as a media relations officer and a liaison to the news community. It was then Justin knew that the news was where he wanted to be.
After Katrina, a few twists of fate led him from central Pennsylvania to sunny Tampa, Fla. Knowing he wanted to get into TV news, Justin followed his instincts and sent e-mails to nearly every reporter and anchor in the Tampa Bay area, and most suggested he needed to go back to school. One, however, from 40-year veteran broadcaster and NBC anchor Bob Hite, was exactly what Justin needed to hear.
Before retiring, Hite, then the senior anchor at NBC in Tampa, took Justin under his wing and taught him the many facets of broadcasting -- from anchoring and reporting to videography and editing. Indeed, after nine months with Hite, Justin landed his first job in TV at KCBD news and is now a proud member of your WTOL news team.
