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John Pruitt covered the news of Atlanta and Georgia as television anchor and reporter for half a century. His major stories include the civil rights movement, the funeral of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Jimmy Carter's gubernatorial and presidential campaigns, the inaugurations of Presidents Carter and Clinton, eleven Democratic and Republican conventions, the 1983 terrorist bombing of a U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, and the aftermath of the September 11th attack on the World Trade Center.
From 1965-67 John served as an Infantry lieutenant in the U.S. Army in South Korea and Fort Gordon, Georgia. Upon his return to WSB in 1967, John resumed his reporting career, eventually rising to the position of weekend anchor. In 1973 he became anchor of WSB's 6 and 11 pm newscasts. In 1978 John joined WXIA-TV in Atlanta as evening news anchor, but in 1994 he returned to WSB to once again anchor its 6 and 11 pm news. Later he added the 5 pm news to his anchor duties. John retired at the end of 2010 after a career that spanned 46 years. After retirement John continued to make periodic appearances on WSB to comment on politics and other important stories.
John has a history degree from Davidson College and has received many awards for his anchoring and reporting. He has been inducted into the Georgia Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame as well as the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame. He has won ten Emmys, including Best Male Anchor and Best Documentary, five Sigma Delta Chi Quill Awards, UPI Awards for his coverage of Jimmy Carter's presidential campaign and a North Georgia airliner crash, the Georgia Winner Award for Public Service, Father of the Year, Pioneer Broadcaster Award from the University of Georgia School of Journalism, the Silver Circle and Gold Circle Awards from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, an Honorary Doctorate in Public Service from Presbyterian College, and the Distinguished Achievement in Broadcasting Award from Digamma Kappa at the University of Georgia School of Journalism.
John has served on the boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Atlanta Humane Society, the Protestant Radio and TV Center, Fix Georgia Pets, Nature Conservancy in Georgia, Literacy Action, and the Rabun Gap Nacoochee School.
John and his wife Andrea have been married for 54 years, have two daughters, and 6 grandchildren. The Pruitts are dog lovers and share their home with two rescues: golden retriever Sully and terrier mix Ruby.
John's first novel was published in October 2022. Tell It True is based on his experiences covering the civil rights movement in the Sixties.
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