2007 Flame of Hope Award

Barbara Harrison

Anchor, NBC News4 Today and News4 Founder, “Wednesday’s Child”

Barbara Harrison co-anchors News4 Today and News4 at 10 a.m. weekdays. She also reports the weekly segment “Wednesday’s Child,” which features children available for adoption. 

Harrison joined News4 in 1981, covering child health issues and providing special features profiles. An interest in child health led to her central role in a major station community outreach campaign, “Beautiful Babies Right From the Start.” She made a television journal of her own pregnancy to motivate women to seek early prenatal care. Her goal was to help decrease the extremely high infant mortality rate in Washington, D.C. The project received local and national awards, including a special commendation from the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services. 

Harrison began her career as a copy writer for Vogue magazine. She then worked as a writer and producer for WNET-TV in New York City. Harrison joined radio as a writer, disc jockey and talk show host before moving to television. She became an anchor for KDFW-TV in Dallas in 1979 and KGO-TV in San Francisco in 1980. 

The Washington Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences honored Harrison with the Ted Yates Award for outstanding community service. In addition, she has received several Emmy awards and other recognitions for her work, including an award from the International Film and TV Festival of New York for a half-hour special she reported and produced, “The Healing of Kuwait.” 

Harrison grew up in Prairie View, Texas, and earned a Master of Arts Degree from Columbia University.