Amy Oates
When a man shot and killed four people inside an Atlanta courthouse then fled from the scene, Amy Oates and her team at Fox 5-TV in Atlanta, Ga., covered the breaking news.
“I was so exhausted,” Amy says. “We covered the story from around 9 a.m. straight through until 8 p.m. When I got home I was afraid to sleep because I thought I would miss something.”
The 1994 WVU graduate began her television career as an intern for a television station in Clarksburg, W.Va. Since that time, her degree in broadcast news has taken her to some of the larger markets, including Tallahassee, Fla., and Knoxville, Tenn.
“When you’re in the television business, you have to start in the smaller markets and then work your way to the larger ones,” she explains.
Amy did just that. In 1999, she accepted the position of weekend producer for Fox 5-TV in Atlanta, Ga. – the ninth major media market in the United States. Less than a year later, she was asked to produce the six o’clock news during the week. After a little more than three years on the job, she was promoted to supervising producer for “Good Day Atlanta.”
Other exciting moments at Fox 5 include meeting celebrities. Michelle Kwan, MC Hammer, the American Idol contestants and Jane Fonda – just to name a few – who have all appeared on “Good Day Atlanta.” In the beginning, Amy was star-struck when seeing such famous people.
“I’ve gotten so used to it now that it doesn’t even faze me anymore,” she explains.
Beyond the excitement, there is a lot of hard work that goes into producing a television show. Amy puts in long hours and often has to sacrifice weekends and holidays for her career. In addition, there is the incessant problem that arises when no news is breaking.
“There are times when we sit around and hope that something happens so that we have a story to cover,” she says.
Her hard work has not gone unnoticed. In 2002 and 2003, she received Emmy awards for “Best Daily Newscast” in recognition of her work on Fox-5’s six o’clock news.
Amy gives most of the credit for her success to her experiences at West Virginia University, and, in particular Maryanne Reed, who is currently the acting dean of the Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism.
“She steered me in the right direction,” Amy says. “Everyone pushes you to be on the air, but Maryanne showed me that working behind the scenes was really what I wanted to do.”
While she may live in Georgia, her heart remains with her West Virginia roots and with WVU. As a student at WVU, she didn’t miss a football game. One of her favorite college memories is tailgating with friends before a game at Mountaineer Field.
When she gets time away from work, she returns to Morgantown to watch the Mountaineer football team take on their latest opponent. She loves the feeling of pride that comes over her when she sits with fellow alumni and friends at Mountaineer Field.
“You feel a change come over you,” she explains. “It’s the whole atmosphere itself that makes WVU so great.”
Today, she is an active member of the Peach State Chapter of the WVU Alumni Association in Atlanta. She enjoys reading the Alumni Magazine to keep up on what’s happening on campus.
“It’s unbelievable how many WVU alumni there are,” Amy says. “It doesn’t matter what degree you got or how well you did in school, being involved with the Alumni Association is a great way to network with other alumni and stay connected to your WVU family.”