Victor Blackwell joined CNN August 2012 and anchors the weekend editions of New Day and CNN Newsroom from the network's global headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.
Blackwell has reported and anchored on-the-scene for many breaking news stories, including Hurricanes Harvey and Irma (2017), the Orlando shooting at Pulse Nightclub (2016), protests in his hometown of Baltimore following the death of Freddie Gray (2015), his exclusive reporting on the death of Georgia teen Kendrick Johnson (2013) and Superstorm Sandy recovery (2012).
In 2018 Blackwell marked the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.'s death by coordinating an exclusive interview with civil rights icons Ambassador Andrew Young and Reverend Jesse Jackson at the Memphis motel where King was gunned down. This was the first time the two visited together since King's death.
Blackwell came to CNN from WPBF 25 News in West Palm Beach, Fla., where he served as an anchor for the 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m. newscasts. He has been honored with an Emmy award, several regional Emmy nominations, two Telly awards, several Associated Press awards and honors from the Society of Professional Journalists. He also earned the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award and the UNITY Award, both from the Radio Television Digital News Association, for a special report on the disproportionate drop out rate amongst young black men.
Before his tenure at WPBF, Blackwell worked for WTLV/WJXX in Jacksonville, Fla. He broke into journalism writing for the Community Times newspaper in Columbia, Md. He worked as a producer for Radio11 WBAL in Baltimore and as a co-producer for WHUT-TV in Washington. He also worked for WPMT-TV in York, Penn., and WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Md.
He earned a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism from Howard University in Washington D.C. and in 2016 was named one of the University's Top 150 Distinguished Alumni.
