Renowned news anchor Mel Showers passed away this weekend. Mel worked at Mobile’s WKRG-TV for nearly 50 years and had profound influence in Mobile and Pensacola.
Mel began working part-time at WKRG-TV 1969 as a booth announcer and became a full-time employee in 1970. In 1974, WKRG named him a “Newscenter 5? reporter, and Mel covered stories of racial inequity and other breaking news in Mobile. In 1981, Mel was named co-anchor of Morning Newscenter 5 and began anchoring the evening newscasts in 1990.
- Mel can attribute his broadcasting career partly to his college professor and his father. His professor suggested him for the interview, and his father insisted Mel follow up after the interview. With his father’s nudging, Mel learned the station was waiting to hire him as a booth announcer. That young announcer felt wealthy making $3.15 an hour.
He was the first black, full-time anchor to appear on WKRG. The Alabama Broadcasters Association reported that some in the community did not initially welcome the station’s first black evening news anchor with open arms. However, his endearing smile, passionate reporting and engagement with the community allowed him to turn hate mail into fan mail.
The Alabama Broadcasters Association inducted Mel into its Hall of Fame in 2016. He received the Mobile Press Club Lifetime Achievement Award. When he retired in 2019, he received the National Association of Black Journalists’ Journalist of Distinction Award that same year. Read more.
- When the award was announced, National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) president Sarah Glover said, “NABJ is proud to salute Mel Showers for the extraordinary example of perseverance and dedication to excellence that he has been to his community and to journalists of color everywhere. Mel’s work ethic and accomplishments span more than half a century in journalism.”
Sena Maddison, his one-time associate producer, shared her memories on “Real News with Rick Outzen” this morning.
“I loved working with Mel, and what we would do is have dinner between the two newscasts and talk about everything,” Sena shared. “He was a huge influence on me, a consummate professional. I loved that he trusted me so much that when he would walk down to do his news breaks, he wouldn’t ever ask if the tape was ready. He just knew I was going to have it done, and I would’ve rather died than let him down. He was the coolest guy.”
Note: WCOA 1370 AM is back up to full strength! You can hear clearly in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties.