Iola Johnson facts for kids
Iola Vivian Johnson, born on October 10, 1950, is an American television reporter and news anchor. She made history as the second African-American news anchor for a television station in Dallas, Texas.
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Early Career in Television News
Iola Johnson was born in Texarkana, Arkansas. One of her first jobs in television was at KVOA, an NBC station in Tucson, Arizona. There, she worked as a writer for the evening news.
Becoming a News Anchor
In 1973, Iola Johnson joined WFAA in Dallas. She started as a weekend news anchor in May of that year.
Two years later, in 1975, she teamed up with another reporter named Tracy Rowlett. They became co-anchors for the 6 PM and 10 PM newscasts. This team was very popular and quickly became number one in the TV ratings. They worked together for ten years and were known as one of the most successful news teams in the history of Dallas-Fort Worth television. Iola Johnson stayed at WFAA-TV for over 12 years.
Beyond WFAA-TV
After her time at WFAA-TV, Iola Johnson hosted a show called Positively Texas. This was a weekly public affairs show that aired on TXA 21 KTXA.
In 1985, Iola Johnson left her anchor job at WFAA-TV to start her own business. She later worked as an anchor at KTVI in St. Louis. Her co-anchor there was Kevin Cokely. After a short time in St. Louis, she returned to Dallas. She worked as a managing editor and news reporter for a morning radio show on KKDA AM.
Returning to Television
In September 2000, Iola Johnson went back to television news. She helped launch a new 4 PM newscast on KTVT CBS 11 in Dallas-Fort Worth. She worked with her long-time friend and former WFAA colleague, Tracy Rowlett. After two years, they both left the 4 PM newscast when it was canceled.
In 2012, Iola Johnson returned to television again. She became a contributor for The Texas Daily news program on KTXD-TV, channel 41. This is an independent station in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. On this show, she worked with many other former WFAA anchors.
