TEARSA SMITH, ANCHOR, WATE 6 ON YOUR SIDE
WATE 6 On Your Side’s Tearsa Smith rises and shines before most people in East Tennessee wake up. Joining WATE in 2002 as a general assignment reporter, she has served as anchor of Good Morning Tennessee since 2005. Tearsa is host and executive producer of the new show Voices in the Valley with Tearsa Smith, covers weekly Health Watch reports, and is a special projects host. Followers of true crime shows can also see Tearsa break down cases on HLN’s Vengeance: Killer Coworkers and TV One’s Fatal Attraction.
Tearsa is an active community member and loves to volunteer with many worthwhile causes. She is an executive board member of the Knoxville Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., an international public service sorority. Tearsa also volunteers her time with organizations like the Knoxville Area Urban League, American Cancer Society, American Heart Association, Cancer Support Community East Tennessee and many area schools. She previously served a 5-year executive board membership with the Wesley House Community Center. During her work with Wesley House, she raised thousands of dollars for underserved youth and seniors in Knoxville’s inner city.
Tearsa has a regional Emmy nomination for her work on the magazine show, 6 Around Town. Other honors include Best News Anchor by the Society of Professional Journalists/East Tennessee Chapter, Tennessee Associated Press Award of Excellence for Best TV News Anchor; and she’s the recipient of the Knoxville Martin Luther King Commemorative Commission’s Service Award and the Girl Talk, Inc.’s Madeline Rogero She-Pro Award.
Born and raised in Miami, Florida, she has made Knoxville home. Tearsa met and fell in love with her husband, Lucious, in East Tennessee and there has been no looking back since. They have two children.