PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — A WAVY-TV 10 anchor and photographer duo say their education at a local HBCU helped prepare them for a career in journalism.
Although Regina Mobley has graced airways in Hampton Roads for decades, she only started working at WAVY in March.
Since then, she’s been partnered up with photographer Larry Carney, who’s worked at the station since 2012.
“We are working at a sprint every single day,” Mobley said about the stories they’re covering, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the protests and social unrest after the death of George Floyd, and elections.
But they’re more than capable of bringing the news to their hometown.
Mobley’s been in the business since 1985. That’s the year Carney was born.
Despite the difference, the two have other similarities. They were both born and raised in Norfolk and attended Norfolk State University.
“It’s an honor to don the green and gold as an alumni. I truly enjoy it,” Carney said, who also wears a Norfolk State face mask and carries a camera bag with NSU pins attached to it.
Mobley says she knew she wanted to be a news anchor when she was a 17-year-old student at Granby High School.
“I decided ‘That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to be a news anchor,'” she said. “It’s a dream come true to work in your hometown and cover the events that affect your family and friends.”
Mobley enrolled at Old Dominion University, but says the school used the broadcast facility at Norfolk State.
“Upon meeting some of the professors from NSU, they basically recruited me and said look we want you here. We want you to become a product of NSU. I think I transferred to NSU to finish my bachelor’s program, which I did in 3.75 years and I graduated with honors,” she said.
For Carney, attending Norfolk State was a family affair. His father and sister both attended the school and he grew up going to sporting events.
But attending an HBCU — a historically Black college or university — was also a plus for him, especially since the schools he grew up in were not predominantly Black.
“Going to school where a lot of people looked like me, I was able to benefit and connect to who I was as an African American. It helped prepare me for this because you always want to make NSU proud. You want to make the HBCUs proud. You want to make where you came from proud,” he said.
Both Carney and Mobley say their professors also left a lasting impact on their lives.
“They taught me a lot of wisdom and experience that I took in and it’s gratifying. It’s what I took in and it’s what I live and work by today,” he said.
Mobley graduated from the school in 1982. Carney graduated in 2008. Despite the 26-year difference, they’re both learning from each other while out in the field.
“The industry is constantly evolving. He helps show me how digital technology is used,” Mobley said.
In return, she’s showed Carney how to be a better storyteller and how to interact with the people they interview.
They’ve created a family-like team dynamic. It’s something they both learned at their alma mater and is one of the things they’ll always cherish about attending an HBCU.
“Family,” Mobley said, giving the one word that would describe Norfolk State and her experience there.
“Yeah, I would echo that same word,” said Carney. “Family, because when you go there, you feel like family — even now.”
NSU and its Center for African American Public Policy (CAAmPP) has partnered with WAVY-TV 10, The Virginia Bar Association, and Visit Norfolk to host the university’s first United States senatorial debate.
The 90-minute debate between Sen. Mark Warner and challenger Dr. Daniel Gade will stream on WAVY.com and on WAVY-TV 10’s Facebook Live channel and on the University’s radio station, WNSB-FM 91.1. at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.
WAVY-TV 10 will air the recorded debate on Oct. 5 at 6:30 p.m.
The debate will be moderated by WAVY-TV 10 journalists Anita Blanton and Regina Mobley.