Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Since 1923 • For a greater Loyola

The Maroon

Local legend announces retirement

When Angela Hill was offered a job as a consumer reporter at WWL-TV in 1975, there was not a single woman who held an anchoring position at the station.

Thirty-eight years later, after becoming the first female news anchor at the station, hosting her own television program that ran for seven years and gaining the love and respect of the city of New Orleans, Hill has announced her retirement.

Melanie Hebert, co-anchor at WWL-TV news, said that Hill knows how to lift up everyone around her, both on and off air.

“She was the definition of a TV news anchor to me,” Hebert said. “She sets the standard at WWL and in this industry for professionalism, and honestly, she sets the standards for being a true lady as well, in my opinion.”

Although there were a few who opposed her appointment as a news anchor in 1975, Hill doesn’t believe it was because she was a woman. Instead, she believes that it was due to people’s loyalty to Garland Robinette, a WWL news anchor at the time and Hill’s former husband of 10 years.

“They thought I was encroaching on his job,” Hill said. “It wasn’t so much, ‘She’s a woman and she can’t do it’, it was more like, ‘Who is that hussy’.”

Despite her success as a news anchor, Hill admits that women throughout the country are still not granted as much power and income as their male colleagues. According to Hill, the only way this will change is if women push forward individually and collectively.

“Now of course there are laws, but back in the day there weren’t,” Hill said.

At Loyola University, where women represent 58 percent of undergraduate students, some graduating seniors have already started looking for work in this competitive job market. If Hill could give any advice to graduating seniors, both male and female, it would be to start the job search early and don’t get discouraged.

“You don’t give up no matter how discouraged you are,” Hill said. “Sometimes you walk away for a day or two and take some deep breaths, but go back out there and say, this is what I want to do – I’m going to be good at it, and I’m going to fight for it.”

When it comes to Hill’s potential successor, Hebert doesn’t think anyone will be able to make as much of an impact as Hill has. According to Hebert, it’s impossible for anyone to fill her shoes.

“I guess the next generation to sit in her seat would need to start by knowing that,” Herbert said.

Nia Porter can be reached at

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About the Contributor
Nia Porter, Editor in Chief
Nia Porter is a mass communication senior with a focus in journalism. She has worked as a staff writer, worldview editor, and news editor at The Maroon; and she currently serves as the editor-in-chief. In her spare time, Nia is a fashion writer for Saint Heron. She likes to read James Baldwin books and livestream Paris Fashion Week shows at 3 a.m.

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