The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
4 years after DUI, anchor still impacted
Former Fox 5 anchor Amanda Davis’ latest arrest — on charges of driving with a suspended license — places her pending job at CBS46 in jeopardy.
Ross Cavitt at WSB-TV broke the story Tuesday evening: former Fox 5 anchor Amanda Davis was arrested Tuesday near Cumberland Mall on charges of driving with a suspended license.
The suspension was related to past DUI arrests.
The timing is horrendous for Davis, who was just hired last week to take over as a morning news anchor on CBS46 nearly four years after a DUI arrest led her to lose her Fox 5 job in 2013. She also was arrested for a DUI last year right before joining the “Just a Minute” commentary team. Instead, she chose to go to rehab and later received probation over her arrest.
Earlier this year, she did a threepart series revealing her alcoholism for the first time and her road to recovery. At the time, she said she had been sober for almost a year.
This latest arrest places her pending job at CBS46 in jeopardy. Frank Volpicella, the CBS46 news director, said he hadn’t talked to Davis yet and had no further comment. She is supposed to start Jan. 2.
Michael Castengera, a senior lecturer of journalism at the University of Georgia, said “this has to raise serious, serious questions for them about keeping her on. It raises serious questions about her judgment.” He consults with local TV stations but none in Atlanta.
Brett Martin, the “Good Day Atlanta” Road Warrior from 1999
to 2007, said in a text to the AJC, “Her judgment has been in question for some time. Sad to see this happen but no one is above the law and she has consistently violated it. Her behavior has become a liability to everyone who hires her.” At the same time, he added, “I feel so bad for her. I wish her the best.”
C.B. Hackworth, a veteran TV producer who worked for a time at CBS46, but is no longer there, thinks the transgression does not merit her losing her job.
“Amanda is a talented professional who has a tremendous following in Atlanta, and she’s a good person who many of us care about and enjoy watching,” Hackworth said.
“I guarantee if she’s in the anchor chair of a newscast, the ratings for that show will improve. She’s not perfect, but if that’s the standard then a lot of changes would have to be made in TV news. People understand she’s human and many of us admire her for how far she’s come.”