Pulitzer Prize Winning Journalist George Rodrigue Hired as Assistant News Director at WFAA-TV

WFAA has announced that George Rodrigue will join the station as Assistant News Director beginning September 25.

Rodrigue’s distinguished career in journalism spans more than 35 years. As a three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, he has worked in a variety of roles in newsrooms and covering stories around the world including the Persian Gulf War, the breakup of the Soviet Union and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Rodrigue also has a depth of management experience working in print and broadcast. Since 2004 he has worked as Vice President and Managing Editor at The Dallas Morning News where he supervised the daily operations of the print and digital newsroom.

“George is a leader, and among the most respected journalists in our industry,” said Carolyn Mungo, WFAA Executive News Director. “His many years in the North Texas market, as well as his depth of expertise in covering national and international news, will provide another unique perspective to our newsroom. We are pleased to welcome George to WFAA.”

“I’ve watched and admired WFAA since I arrived in Dallas in 1981,” said Rodrigue. “I’m thrilled to be joining such a great news team, with such a distinguished record of public service.”

Rodrigue began his journalism career in the 1970s as a reporter for The Atlanta Constitution. Later he became a reporter with The Dallas Morning News, where he and a colleague won the paper’s first Pulitzer Prize in 1986 for a series documenting discrimination in federally subsidized housing. In 1987 he was promoted to supervise the paper’s daily operations of the Metropolitan News desk.

In 1990 Rodrigue was named The Dallas Morning News European Bureau Chief stationed in Berlin and Moscow. His work was recognized with an award from the Overseas Press Club, and he was part of a team that won the 1994 Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting. Four years later, Rodrigue moved to Washington, D.C. where he joined the paper’s Capitol Bureau as a correspondent. He filed a steady stream of investigative and explanatory stories about domestic policy issues, from social welfare programs to tax collection.

In 1998 Rodrigue was named Executive Editor of The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California where he successfully oversaw an expansion of the newspaper into neighboring San Bernardino County. Just over two years later he returned to Washington, D.C. as the bureau’s new chief, uniting the broadcast and print staffs.  He supervised a group of 30 journalists, creating a joint bureau where staff members served Belo Corp. newspapers and television stations. That team covered the events of 9/11 and the subsequent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

After becoming The News’ managing editor, he led the newsroom’s work covering Hurricane Katrina, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Breaking News Photography. 

Rodrigue is a graduate of the University of Virginia, and was a Neiman Fellow at Harvard University focusing on economics and law.

For further information contact Dave Muscari, vice president/product development, at 214-977-6490, or dmuscari@wfaa.com. Learn more about WFAA at WFAA.com.