Lou Waters

Lou Waters is an American television journalist recognized as one of the founding anchors of CNN. Waters was among the original anchors when CNN launched and remained a primary anchor for the network for several decades, establishing a journalism career that spanned nearly 40 years. Before his work in television news, Waters worked as a disc jockey and newscaster in major cities including Minneapolis, St. Paul, Tucson, San Diego, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Buffalo, and New York City. After holding television reporting positions on the West Coast, Waters became a news director in San Diego and Tucson, where he was noticed by CBS. Ultimately, CNN's vision for continuous news coverage attracted him to the network.

Waters reported on major events throughout the 1980s and 1990s, including the attack on President Reagan, the Space Shuttle Challenger explosion, the Persian Gulf War, and the Tiananmen Square uprising. He anchored several hours of coverage during the Challenger disaster and was on air during the San Francisco earthquake, covering the initial hours from CNN’s Atlanta headquarters before traveling to the Bay Area. As a correspondent, Waters covered the closing days of NATO’s assault on Kosovo and was the first to report from Macedonia that Serb military forces had agreed to withdraw from Kosovo. He was also active in CNN’s political coverage, participating in each Republican and Democratic National Convention since the network’s inception.

For much of his tenure, Waters anchored "CNN Today" with Natalie Allen, co-anchored "Early Prime," and hosted special editions, including "Coming of Age," a series on aging in American society. For this series, Waters traveled nationwide, interviewing scientists and individuals of all ages about their perspectives on aging. His work earned him three Houston International Film Festival awards, a first-place news award at the New York Film Festival for political coverage, a Cable ACE Award for "Inside Politics '88," and an Emmy Award for spot news reporting for his coverage of a plane crash for CBS.

Following his time at CNN, Waters served as managing editor and host of NewsProNet’s "Investing in America" consumer money reports, broadcast on more than 80 television stations across the United States. He also served as vice mayor of the Oro Valley, Arizona Town Council, and authored a book about San Francisco radio figure Bobby Dale, titled "Have I Got a Song for You." Waters continues to freelance on topics related to older Americans and has entered podcasting, hosting "What Have You Learned? A Conversation with Lou Waters," a series of interviews with a range of guests. Drawing on decades of live television experience, Waters offers audiences a combination of journalistic expertise and historical perspective.