Janet Roach is a nine-time Emmy-Award-winning journalist, two-time recipient of the Edward R. Murrow Award and three time national Telly Award winner.
Join her Monday through Friday as co-anchor of 13 News Now at 4, 13 News Now at 5, and 13 News Now at 6 p.m.
Janet has been out front covering national headlines throughout her television career, from the terror attacks on 9/11 at the Pentagon to the history-making inauguration of President Barack Obama in Washington, D.C. in 2009.
Janet was one of the first journalists in Hampton Roads to bring attention to the growing heroin epidemic with her award-winning documentary, Hooked on Heroin: Virginia's Growing Killer.
Janet's documentary, 20 and Odd: Africans' Arrival in 1619, told the dramatic story of the first enslaved Africans to arrive in English North America in 1619 to Hampton, Va. That documentary earned her and Emmy and two National Gold Telly Awards.
Janet tackled the mental health crisis with a compelling story about a Norfolk mother fighting for adequate care for her mentally ill and autistic son in the Emmy Award winning documentary, Looking For Happiness.
In 2018, She won a regional Emmy for her documentary highlighting the continuous first for medical research funding. It was called, Desperate for Dollars: The Fight for Medical Research.
In 2014, she challenged Virginia's public education system through a series of reports for its failure to recognize and adequately remediate dyslexia disorders in its students.
In 2013, she won regional Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards for the half-hour documentary, Battleground Virginia. The special examined the transformation of Virginia into a politically "purple" state in the 2012 presidential election.
As an investigative reporter for 13 News Now, Janet has warned viewers of numerous scams and consumer alerts. In 2006, she won a Virginia Associated Press Award for her investigative reports surrounding an employment service accused of charging clients high fees for bogus promises of jobs. Her reporting led to the closure of one of the company's offices in Virginia Beach.
Also in 2006, Janet won the Associated Press Douglas Southall Freeman Award for public service in journalism for her series of reports on domestic violence. Janet followed the stories of several domestic violence victims to expose legal loopholes in the process of securing protective orders against abusers.
Janet is a big believer in looking out for your community. She spends much time talking to women's and children's groups. She served as the American Cancer Society's South Hampton Roads Relay for Life Honorary Chairwoman in 2010 and the Honorary Chairwoman of the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in 2011. She has worked on several projects with the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation of Hampton Roads.
She enjoys serving a mentor to aspiring journalists and her younger colleagues who are new to the industry.
In 2010, Janet was named a Woman of Distinction for the YWCA of the Virginia Peninsula.
Before coming to Hampton Roads, Janet worked for ABC affiliate, WMAR-TV in Baltimore, Maryland, WTTG-TV in Washington DC, and WITI-TV in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
While reporting in Milwaukee, her documentary on domestic violence, "Hurting to Healing," garnered several local and regional awards, including an Emmy. She was honored by the City of Milwaukee for her continuing coverage on the issue of domestic violence.
Janet is a graduate of the University of North Carolina with a B.A. in Public Policy Analysis. As a Tar Heel, Janet was inducted into the "Order of the Golden Fleece," which is the oldest and highest honorary society at the University. She also won the annual Martin Luther King Scholarship given to one student annually for his/her commitment to the improvement of the quality of life on campus.
Being a mom is Janet's proudest achievement. She has two teens, Gabrielle and Trevor. She lives with them and her husband, Harold, in Newport News.
She is also a member of First Baptist Church Denbigh in Newport News and a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
You can email Janet as well as follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
