Maureen Bunyan Biography
Maureen Bunyan is an Aruban-American television journalist based in Washington, D.C. From 1973 to 1995, she was the lead co-anchor at WUSA. She returned to television in 1999 as a co-anchor for WJLA-TV, where she helped the station rise to second place in the market.
Maureen Bunyan Age
Maureen was born on February 27, 1944, in Aruba. She is 79 years old as of February 2023.
Maureen Bunyan Education
Bunyan also studied at Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism and Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education, where she received a master’s degree in 1980.
Maureen Bunyan Family- Parents
Bunyan, the eldest of three daughters, moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with her family when she was 11 years old. Wilhelmina and Arthur, her parents, are from Guyana and immigrated to Aruba.
Maureen Bunyan Career
Bunyan is the founder and board member of the International Women’s Media Foundation (IWMF), as well as the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). as well as Maureen Bunyan Communications, Inc. She was named “Washingtonian of the Year” in 1992 and has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Washington Chapter, “The Silver Circle” of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), and the Broadcast Pioneers Club of Washington. Bunyan began her journalism career as a freelancer for the Milwaukee Journal while attending the nearby University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, then moved on to television jobs at WGBH-TV in Boston and WCBS-TV in New York City before moving to Washington and joining WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in 1973.
Bunyan was promoted to co-anchor alongside Gordon Peterson at 6 p.m. after Robinson joined ABC News in 1978 (she would add the 11 p.m. newscast a decade later) and settled in as part of a local news team that also included sportscaster Glenn Brenner and meteorologist Gordon Barnes. She hosted the award-winning magazine programs 22:26 and Studio Nine, in addition to reporting on major local, national, and international stories. Bunyan announced her resignation on the air during the 6 p.m. news on December 11, 1995, after WUSA management offered her an anchor demotion and salary cut to keep her at the station.
Bunyan briefly worked for MSNBC and ran a public relations firm before returning to the Washington airwaves in February 1999, taking over as lead anchor at WJLA-TV from Paul Berry. She was reunited with longtime friend and former WUSA co-anchor Gordon Peterson on the 6 p.m. news five years later. This combination propelled WJLA from third to second place in that timeslot, trailing current leader WRC. WJLA’s owners, Sinclair Broadcasting, announced her contract would not be renewed on January 9, 2017. Her final evening newscast for WJLA aired on January 31, 2017.
Maureen Bunyan Awards
She has received numerous awards, including the Foremother Award from the National Center for Health Research in 2017. She was named “Washingtonian of the Year” in 1992 and has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Washington Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, “The Silver Circle” of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS), and the Broadcast Pioneers Club of Washington.
Maureen Bunyan Net Worth
Bunyan has an estimated net worth of 2 million dollars.