Roy Hobbs

Roy Hobbs

Roy Hobbs (born c. 1954 in Chicago, Illinois) is a former weekend news anchor for ABC 33/40.

Hobbs worked in Boston, Massachusetts (UPN 38); Jackson, Mississippi (WAPT); Beaumont (KBMT); and Houston, Texas (KTRK). While in Texas he founded the Houston Association of Black Journalists in 1986.

From 1997 to 2003 Hobbs was an anchor on Atlanta, Georgia's WAGA, a FOX affiliate. In 2001 he joined a group from the National Association of Black Journalists on a tour of Kenya.

In 2005 and 2006 later spent a year as a morning anchor at KSHB, an NBC affiliate in Kansas City, Missouri and nearly three years as a morning anchor in Nashville, Tennessee, before coming to Birmingham in October 2006.

In April 2010 Hobbs was arrested in Woodlawn for possession of crack cocaine. He had previously been stopped in the same area with a known prostitute, a suspended driver's license, and no proof of insurance. He was charged on the second stop with possession of a controlled substance and drug paraphernalia and released on bond. The station placed him on immediate leave, and officially terminated his contract on July 15.

Judge Shanta Owens sent his case to drug court where he pleaded guilty and was given a suspended sentence, pending completion of treatment and recovery programs. He has received treatment for addiction and depression.

References

• Gray, Jeremy (April 21, 2010) "ABC 33/40 anchor Roy Hobbs on leave after drug arrest." Birmingham News
• "ABC 33/40′s Roy Hobbs arrested for drug possession" (April 22, 2010) Media of Birmingham
• Prince, Richard (August 9, 2010) "Roy Hobbs Says He Was Suicidal". Richard Prince's Journal-isms. Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education