| Diann Burns | |
| Birth Date: | 29 September 1958 |
| Birth Place: | Cleveland, Ohio |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Years Active: | 1981–2008 |
| Children: | 1 son |
Diann Burns (born September 29, 1958, in Cleveland, Ohio) is a former television news anchor and a nine-time Emmy Award-winner.[1] She is best known for her years as a prime-time weekday anchor for two Chicago television stations. Burns appeared in several major movies and at least one television dramatic series. She was the first African-American woman to anchor the prime-time news in Chicago. She entered the Chicago TV market as a reporter after a successful career as newspaper journalist. She earned an advanced degree in journalism at Columbia University in New York.
Burns earned an undergraduate degree in politics and mass communications from Cleveland State University and a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City.
Burns began her career as a print journalist in Cleveland Ohio for The Plain Dealer in the late 1970s until 1980. At that time, she moved to New York and completed her master's degree in journalism at Columbia University in 1981. From 1981 until 1983, she was at WPIX. In 1983, she joined NBC-affiliated WCMH television as a general assignment reporter, where she was named news anchor in 1984.
From 1985 until 2003, she was the 5pm and 10pm weekday news anchor at American Broadcasting Company (ABC) owned and operated WLS-TV Chicago, where she was Chicago's highest-paid television news professional before joining WBBM-TV in 2003 as the weekday 5pm, 6pm and 10pm news anchor, until leaving WBBM in 2008. WBBM is owned and operated by CBS (CBS Worldwide, Inc.). ABC is a division of The Walt Disney Company's Disney-ABC Television Group.
Among Burns's many awards are nine Emmys, one national and eight regional.
Burns is the spokesperson for Pediatric Aids Chicago. She also works with Girls in the Game.
Burns is active with the Ronald McDonald House, the Northern Illinois Chapter of the Multiple Sclerosis Society, and The Support Group, an organization that assists high school students with school work and home life by providing tutoring and social services.
Until recently, Burns and her now teen-aged son resided in Chicago's Lincoln Park.[2]
Burns appeared in several major motion pictures, playing herself, including:
Burns is known to have appeared in at least one television dramatic role as someone other than herself: