Lengthy earlier than the town grew to become the sprawling, multicultural hub it’s right this moment, Melanie Lawson was already watching, listening, and studying how tales form communities.
For greater than 4 many years, Lawson didn’t simply report Houston’s information; she bore witness to its development, its grief, and its greatness. Now, after 43 years at KTRK, ABC13, the native Houstonian and award-winning journalist is retiring, closing a chapter that helped outline native tv information for generations.
“I’ve been blessed to have a protracted and fruitful profession in my hometown as a result of folks within the Black group felt that they had a voice by trusting me to hearken to their truths,” Lawson mentioned.
That belief grew to become the inspiration of a profession marked not by spectacle, however by service.
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Lawson joined ABC13 in 1978 as an intern, stepping unexpectedly into an on-air position that might launch one of many longest tenures in Houston broadcast historical past. Over time, she grew to become a well-known presence on Stay at 5 and Eyewitness Information, anchoring protection of hurricanes, elections, civil unrest, and cultural milestones with calm authority and context.
She additionally hosted Crossroads, a public affairs program that created house for nuanced conversations round race, politics, religion, and group, points typically ignored or oversimplified elsewhere.
“It has at all times been vital to me to not solely cowl our tales but additionally to talk for individuals who don’t have the platform to talk for themselves.”
Melanie Lawson
“It has at all times been vital to me to not solely cowl our tales but additionally to talk for individuals who don’t have the platform to talk for themselves,” Lawson mentioned.
Raised in the course of the early Seventies, Lawson was a part of the era that built-in colleges equivalent to Poe Elementary and Lanier Center College. She grew up watching Houston remodel from a metropolis outlined by inflexible racial divisions right into a largely interconnected, multicultural nexus, a metamorphosis she would later chronicle from behind the anchor desk.
From childhood houses on Wheeler Avenue, Rosedale Road, and South MacGregor Solution to the primary home she bought on North MacGregor, Lawson is, by her personal description, a tried-and-true Third Wardian. She was raised not solely by her household, the late William Invoice Lawson and Audrey Lawson, however by a group that collectively believed in accountability, excellence, and chance.
“If I ever acquired in bother in class, that stroll residence was extremely lengthy,” she mentioned. “Each grownup between college and residential needed to come out and fuss at me. There was an actual consolation in that. So long as you lived in a neighborhood the place you noticed nice accomplishments, you believed that was one thing you can do, too.”
That perception carried her far past Houston.
A self-described “nosy” little one, a trait she now credit as important to good journalism, Lawson developed an early love for studying and radio. Whereas different youngsters performed exterior, she immersed herself in books and concepts. She earned her undergraduate diploma from Princeton College, adopted by a joint diploma in regulation and journalism from Columbia College. After working towards First Modification regulation on Wall Road for 3 years, Lawson returned residence in 1982 on the invitation of a mentor to hitch Channel 13 Eyewitness Information full-time. She has remained a central determine in Houston media ever since.
All through her profession, Lawson interviewed presidents, politicians, artists, and activists. She spoke with civil rights leaders, together with Harry Belafonte, Jesse Jackson, and John Lewis. She helped contextualize the cultural significance of Black sororities and traditionally Black faculties and universities throughout Kamala Harris’ vice presidential marketing campaign. She gave early interviews to Spike Lee and Tyler Perry and launched Houston audiences to Joel Osteen as Lakewood Church ready for its main enlargement.
But Lawson has typically mentioned essentially the most significant conversations weren’t with well-known names.
“Typically it’s not essentially the well-known folks,” she mentioned. “It’s someone very modest, humble, and part of the material of the town.”
That philosophy prolonged past the newsroom. Final month, Lawson donated $43,000 to assist the following era of journalists by means of the Houston Affiliation of Black Journalists, reinforcing her lifelong dedication to amplifying voices which may in any other case go unheard.
“For many years — 4 to be precise — Melanie Lawson has been a beloved staple within the Houston group,” mentioned Nakia Cooper, president of the Houston Affiliation of Black Journalists. “She’s who viewers trusted. She’s who little women and girls regarded as much as. She’s who made Houstonians proud. By giving of herself but once more, she poured into the futures of younger storytellers and reminded them how a lot she believes in them. HABJ will without end honor Melanie Lawson.”Lawson leaves behind a legacy that extends past broadcasting. She leaves a blueprint for what native journalism could be when it’s rooted in group, curiosity, and care.
