November 4, 2021

Jovita Moore ’89 passed away on Thursday, October 28, 2021 at age 53, following a seven-month battle with brain cancer. 

Since 1998, Moore had been the evening news anchor at WSB-TV Channel 2 Action News in Atlanta, GA. 

“The Bennington College community is saddened to learn of Jovita’s passing,” said President Laura Walker. “Jovita spent 23 years at WSB-TV in Atlanta, during which time she became not only a recognizable, trustworthy anchor to broadcast viewers, but an invaluable part of the greater Atlanta community. She was an outstanding Bennington alum, a civic leader, a role model for rising Black journalists, and an inspiration to all who knew her.” 

Throughout her decades-long broadcasting career, Moore garnered numerous accolades, including several Emmy Awards. 

Moore was a 2017 inductee into The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Southeast Chapter’s Silver Circle. She was a member of the Atlanta Association of Black Journalists and the National Association of Black Journalists. She was a member of Leadership Atlanta’s Class of 2007, and a member of Outstanding Atlanta’s Class of 2004. Moore was featured on the 2007 40 Under 40 list by Georgia Trend Magazine, and she was selected as one of Jezebel magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful Atlantans.

Beyond any of her endless career accomplishments, however, “for those of us here at Channel 2, her heart and her spirit are what our newsroom was built around,” wrote her WSB-TV colleagues in a statement. 

Moore was an icon in her field, inspiring Black journalists in Atlanta and beyond.

“[Jovita] showed me how to be a journalist with kindness, grace and integrity," freelance journalist Jewel Wicker recounted to USA Today. "She showed all of Atlanta how to earn success with kindness and authenticity. She was legendary."

Moore was raised in New York before attending Bennington College, where she studied Literature and earned her Bachelor of Arts. She went on to receive her Master of Science in Broadcast Journalism from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

After spending the early part of her career on the air at WMC-TV in Memphis, TN, and KFSM in Fayetteville and Fort Smith, AK, Moore adopted Atlanta as her hometown. She was involved in civic associations and nonprofit organizations across the Atlanta area, and served as a mentor and role model for students. 

She is survived by her three children and her mother.