David Ushery Biography
David Ushery is a famous African-American television news anchor at WNBC News 4 New York, NBC’s flagship-owned and operated station. As an integral member of the NBC 4 New York News team, he has covered many of the largest and most visible breaking news stories across the Tri-State region and around the world. His stories consist of the terror attacks in Manchester, England, Orlando, Florida, and Paris, France.
David Ushery Education
Ushery attended the University of Connecticut and graduated with a double major in political science and journalism. At the university, he was a staff writer for the Hartford Courant newspaper, where he honed his skills in covering local politics and events. Ushery also reported for the Los Angeles Times. Right after graduation, the CBS affiliate in Hartford, WFSB-TV, hired him for its training program, However recognizing his talent, the station offered him a full-time general assignment reporting position within just a matter of months.
David Ushery Career
Ushery was picked at the age of 11 from a statewide search to host the local edition of ”Kidsworld,” a nationally syndicated television show. Among his early interviews was with the late Walter Cronkite, the former CBS News anchor once rated as the most trusted man in America. Ushery, as the lead reporter for WFSB’s 11 pm broadcast, he covered numerous stories impacting the everyday lives of Xonnecticut’s capital city. However, one of the stories made an indelible impression on Ushery: the night he and his photographer spent with residents of New Britain who were being terrorized by arsonists.
Within 2 years of starting at the station, he traveled to Moscow following the end of the Soviet Union for a story on policing. The overseas trip would then become the first of many in his career, as news directors recognized his talent for covering international stories. At the age of 25 in 1993, he was recruited by WABC-TV in New York City to join its staff as a general assignment reporter, covering news for the No. 1 station in the top market in the nation. Since that time, he has been a familiar face to New York City viewers reporting on the city’s tragedies and triumphs.
1994-2006
Ushery was later part of the station’s coverage of the police investigations into the shooting death of Amadou Diallo and the torture of Abner Louima. As well as the deaths of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and John F. Kennedy, Jr. and the September 11 terrorist attacks. Ushery was on the team of reporters for WABC’s extended coverage of the celebrations for the Yankees World Series victories and the installation of Edward Cardinal Egan to lead New York City’s Archdiocese. WABC also sent him on the road to cover world events such as many reports from Haiti on the Island’s political unrest. As well as Pope John Paul II’s visits to Africa and Toronto, and the United Nation’s conference on racism in South Africa.
Three years following arriving at WABC, he was named anchor of a new weekend show, ”Eyewitness News This Morning.” Ushery anchored the weekday morning newscasts and the news at noon. He was then named primary fill-in for the legendary anchor, the late Bill Beutel, and spent 10 years at WABC. In 2003, Ushery joined WNBC-TV to become the anchor of its highly-rated morning newscast, ”Weekend Today in New York.” The program’s format of hard news and features, interviews, and sports, allowed him to display his versatility as a newsman.
After one year, he was named anchor of WNBC’s weekend 6 pm and 11 pm newscasts. The appointments made him in effect ”the face” of WNBC during the weekend, anchoring all the station’s morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday. In 2006, he was named co-anchor of WNBC’s iconic ”Live at 5” show together with legendary anchor Sue Simmons. Following a change of programming, he went back to anchor the weekend broadcasts for ”News 4 New York.”
2007-2008
Ushery has led coverage of some of the most memorable events in recent memory as an anchor at WNBC. He traveled to Houston, Texas to deliver live updates after the funeral of former President George H.W. Bush in 2018. Earlier the same year, he traveled to Jerusalem where he took Tri-State viewers to the opening of the new United States Embassy. Ushery also took viewers to the front lines in Gaza and the West Bank, where massive protests led to confrontations with police. The year before, he traveled to Israel to cover President Trump’s visit to the Holy Land prior to quickly shifting his live reports to England, after the tragic bombing outside the Manchester sports arena. In June 2016, he traveled to Orlando to cover the tragic Pulse Nightclub shooting. One year earlier, Ushery reported from Paris after the city’s deadly terrorist attacks.
Ushery provided live coverage after the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012. As well as the miraculous emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1548 in the Hudson River in 2009 and many presidential elections. Ushery also made several trips to Rome to cover the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI; the 2013 papal conclave electing Pope Francis, the current Pope of the Catholic Church, and the canonizations of Popes John Paul II and John XXIII. He has also represented NBC Universal in national initiatives. Ushery then hosted the network’s special show on its switch to digital in 2009, ”Going Green at Any Age,” which examined ways to help the environment.
2009
In 2009, he conceived and launched ”The Debrief with David Ushery,” which has been called a must-watch program, that was nominated for a 2011 Emmy Award. The Weekly, half-hour broadcast gives viewers a unique perspective on important current events. He also takes a high-energy, unscripted approach to his interviews with reporters and newsmakers. Viewers are meant to feel part of the conversation about major stories. The program has earned attention and praise for breaking boundaries and challenging the long-held tenets of being an anchor. In ”The Debrief, he does not sit behind an anchor desk but moves around the newsroom and foes tie-less.
The no-tie look also caught the attention of other media such as the New York Times and NBC ”Nightly News” Anchor Brian Williams. Williams during a holiday television appearance with Ushery joked that viewers should consider giving Ushery a necktie. Even then-New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, at the annual Gracie Mansion holiday party for the press, called him to the podium saying he ”was really excited by ‘The Debrief,’ your new show about New York.” The Mayor also remarked that David seemed a ‘little underdressed,” whipping off his own tie and presenting it to Ushery as a gift.
2010-present
Following a ”Debrief segment featuring blogging New York City mothers in 2010, he developed and launched a spin-off show. ”Moms and the City and a Dad named David,” features him and three mothers offering a straightforward look at life in the city from a parent’s point of view. He has stated that the 4th mother on the show is New York City. The show airs on WNBC’s New York Nonstop cable channel. NBCUniversal revealed him as the anchor of WNBC’s 4 and 11 pm. newscasts starting in October 2020, as incumbent Stefan Holt returns to the company’s Chicago station.
David Ushery Age
Ushery was born on June 5, 1967, in Bloomfield, Connecticut, U.S., and is aged 56 years old.
David Ushery Height
Ushery has a well-built and physically fit stature with a standing height of 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m).
David Ushery Family
Ushery was born and brought up in Bloomfield, Connecticut to his parents Solomon Ushery and Winifred Ushery. He was born as the only child in the family and does not have any siblings. Ushery belongs to the African-American ethnicity.
David Ushery Wife
Ushery is currently married to his beautiful, and loving wife Isabel Rivera, a television producer. The couple married in 2001 and is blessed with one child, a son named Austin Ushersy. The family belongs to the Catholic religion.
David Ushery Net Worth
African-American professional television news anchor Ushery has been active for more than 30 years. He has gathered an accumulative net worth of approximately $1 million to $7 million as of 2023.
David Ushery Salary
As a television news anchor and reporter, Ushery earns an annual salary of $88,103.
David Ushery Awards and honors
During his long career in New York City, he has been recognized for his contributions to the community. Ushery won an award from the National Association of Black Journalists for his series of reports on children and violence in 1993. In 1999, The Network Journal, the Black Professionals and Small Business Magazine, named him among its ”40 Under-Forty” for his significant accomplishments. The Israeli Consulate in New York City honored him for his dedicated reporting in 2000. In 2010, he was also honored as a recipient of the McDonald’s Faces of Black History Award.
NBC 4 New York- WNBC News 4
Ushery works under WNBC News 4 and reports together with various reporters and anchors such as
- Matt Brickman
- Erica Byfield
- Adelle Caballero
- Greg Cergol
- John Chandler
- Pei-Sze Cheng
- Michael Gargiulo
- Sara Gore
- Ted Greenberg
- Janice Huff
- Adam Kuperstein
- Maria LaRosa
- Jen Maxfield
- Myles Miller
- Raphael Miranda
- Rana Novini
- Natalie Pasquarella
- Dave Price
- Darlene Rodriguez
- Gus Rosendale
- Marc Santia
- Lauren Scala
- Chuck Scarborough
- Ida Siegal
- Andrew Siff
- Romney Smith
- Tracie Strahan