She has a Master’s Degree in French Studies from New York University and has been in the U.S. broadcast news industry for 35 years. Now, this former ABC News VP of Newsgathering is taking a key weather leadership role at CBS News & Stations.
Fisher will helm a newly formed national weather unit that will work closely across all CBS news programs and the 60+ meteorologists and weather production teams across both CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures. “This central weather team will be the coordinating force behind bringing our local and national teams together, using state-of-the-art augmented and virtual reality to tell the critical weather stories each day,” CBS News & Stations said in a release distributed Monday morning.
Fisher starts her new role on April 22 and will be based in New York.
“Wendy Fisher knows how to cover stories with impact and how to lead teams to become reporting centers for excellence,” said Adrienne Roark, President of Content Development and Integration for CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures. “Every piece of research we’ve seen for decades points to weather as one of the biggest drivers in audience engagement. From life-impacting to life-threatening weather, audiences turn to us for community connection, context and clarity during these extreme events. Wendy is exceptionally well positioned to help build our new unified weather leadership team as we move to transform the coverage and super-serve audiences with this essential and urgent reporting every day.”
With Fisher in control, CBS News and Stations’ weather unit is poised to “transform” its on-air look by utilizing augmented reality and other new technology pioneered in San Francisco at KPIX-5.
In fact, Fisher will work with KPIX President/GM Scott Warren as new features debut that are designed to provide “deeper and more comprehensive reporting” across all CBS News and Stations programs and platforms, the company says.
“Weather is one of the top stories audiences look for on a daily basis and I am excited to join an organization investing in bringing together the strongest reporting teams, storytellers and technology to bring depth and innovation to weather coverage,” Fisher said.
Fisher joins CBS News and Stations after a more than 30-year career in newsgathering at ABC News. From 2020 to 2023, Fisher served as SVP/Global Newsgathering, where she managed coverage of local, national and international news stories, such as the war in Ukraine, mass shootings, major weather events and natural disasters. Fisher was also integral to ABC News’ coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic, protests following the murder of George Floyd, political campaigns and terrorist attacks.
Fisher began her career at ABC News in 1989. She has served as VP of Newsgathering, Executive Editor, National Editor and Assignment Editor.
Fisher also currently serves as a lecturer in advanced reporting in the Department of Arts, Culture and Media at Rutgers University.
