Nerissa Knight was a reporter for KTLA 5 News in Los Angeles. She left the station in 2020.
Original bio:
Nerissa Knight is an Emmy Award-winning reporter for KTLA 5 News in Los Angeles.
You can also catch her as a correspondent on the nationally syndicated TV show “Crime Watch Daily With Chris Hansen.” Nerissa is a veteran TV journalist with 23 years broadcast TV news experience and has served as an anchor/reporter on news teams at various TV stations across the country.
Prior to joining KTLA, Nerissa was an anchor/reporter for KNBC in Los Angeles and co-hosted its “Today in L.A.” weekend show for four years. She also spent time as co-host at KTLA’s sister station KDAF in Dallas hosting the Tribune Media-syndicated pop culture morning show “Eye Opener TV,” which also airs in other major markets including Houston, Philadelphia and Miami.
Nerissa’s extensive broadcast career has taken her to serve as anchor/reporter in other markets across the country as well, such as Beaumont, Texas (KBTV); Little Rock, Arkansas (KATV, KTHV-TV); Mobile, Alabama (WALA-TV); Milwaukee, Wisconsin (WDJT-TV); and Dallas, Texas (KTVT-TV).
In addition to her broadcast profession, Nerissa is also a former Miss Black Memphis, Miss Black Arkansas, and runner-up Miss Black America, who is very involved in the community. She has spent more than two decades giving scholarships to outstanding, deserving students in need. Her dedication to giving back has been recognized with numerous service awards such as the Brookin’s Community Service Award, the AIDS Project Los Angeles Woman of Empowerment Award and the Purple Bottom Group for abused women service award. Nerissa was also recognized by the governor of California with a mentoring award for her work with youth.
She is an active member of the National Association of Black Journalists, including with the local Los Angeles chapter.
Although proud of her community service accomplishments, Nerissa is proudest of her loving family. Since 18 years old, she’s been married to her junior high school sweetheart and they have three children: two sons and a daughter. Having lost her mother to cancer as an only child at the age of 6 and never having met her father, Nerissa had a tumultuous childhood having grown up as a foster child, moving from one family member, friend or stranger’s house to another. Her challenged upbringing and life experiences have led to her life’s motto: “It’s not what you’ve been dealt, but how you deal with it.”
