Former Southeastern Channel news anchor-reporter-producer Chris Rosato, currently Legislative Correspondent at WAFB-TV Ch. 9 (CBS) in Baton Rouge, La. (DMA 94), saw one of his news feature stories, “Mardi Gras in Mamou,” go viral recently with over 40,000 views on social media and 20,000 clicks on WAFB’s website. The story was picked up and aired by “Inside Edition”, the nation’s number one syndicated newsmagazine, hosted by Deborah Norville. In addition to his Legislative Correspondent duties of daily covering the Louisiana state capitol for WAFB’s 4 pm., 5 pm., 6 pm., and 10 pm. newscasts, Rosato is also called upon to serve as a General Assignment reporter for WAFB. Last year he traveled south of Houma to file live reports during Hurricane Ida and also reported on Ida’s aftermath and how the storm impacted residents. One month before graduating from Southeastern in December of 2020, Rosato was hired by WAFB as Nightside Reporter where he covered breaking news and other important stories.
At the Southeastern Channel, Rosato won multiple national, regional, and state honors as anchor-reporter-producer for the national award-winning live newscast, “Northshore News.” This year Rosato’s newscast was honored by College Broadcasters, Inc. with first-place for the Best Video Newscast in the nation despite the large number of schools competing across the country. Last year, Rosato won first place in the nation for “Best Video Hard News Reporting” given by the prestigious College Broadcasters, Inc. at its 2020 National Student Production Awards ceremony, winning for his story, “Toxic Algae in Lake Pontchartrain” produced for “Northshore News”. Earlier this year Rosato won honors as “Best Television Journalist in the South” and “Best TV Anchoring” at the Southeast Journalism Conference (SEJC) made up of 40 universities from Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee, and North Carolina. Rosato’s anchoring and reporting played a key role in “Northshore News” winning 1st Place for “Best Television Newscast” and “Best of Show” at the Louisiana-Mississippi Associated Press College Broadcasters Awards and also winning a Society of Professional Journalists “Mark of Excellence” award for “Best Overall College Television Newscast” in Region 12 (Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Arkansas). Rosato capped his decorated Southeastern Channel career by winning “Louisiana Student Broadcaster of the Year” given by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters from a field that included all television and radio broadcasting students in the state.