Background

Byron Pitts was born on October 21, 1960 in Baltimore, Maryland. Even though he was born in Maryland, most of his family’s roots were set in North Carolina. As a young boy, his mom would have him sent to his grandmother who lived in Apex. Apex is a small town outside of the city of Raleigh. She would also have him spend his summers with his aunt in Raleigh.

For most of her life, Byron’s mother Clarice was the head of her family and made the most important decisions. Tragedy struck the family when Clarice started to reach the end of her life. She started to suffer from dementia but was fortunate enough to have a strong support system of her siblings, children, and relatives. They all rushed to her side to help because of everything that they had done for her in the past.

Byron spoke to Journal Now about the hard time for his mother, “It was an awful time for my mom and my family. But we got through it.”

Journalism Career

Pitts attended Ohio Wesleyan University and graduated from his college in 1982. After finishing college, Pitts got his first job at the sports information office at Shaw University.  He gained a lot of experience which led to his first TV job at in Greenville just a year after leaving college in 1983. He was employed to work as a sports anchor and reporter for the weekends.

Pitts got his big break with a national network when he became the chief national correspondent for CBS News. After 15 years of experience with CBS, Pitts was able to make progress in his industry and hit another huge milestone when ABC News signed him up to be their chief national correspondent in 2014.

Currently, he is most recognized for his appearances on “Nightline,” but he is also featured on popular programs like “20/20” and “Good Morning America”. He is also a frequent contributor to 60 Minutes

Speech Disability Champion

Pitts revealed that he went through some hard times as a child in school because he had a stutter. In an interview with Stuttering Help, Byron shared his story about being bullied for his speech disability, “I was bullied through elementary school and much of junior high school. I didn’t have many friends because of my stutter. I was embarrassed a lot of times and out of that embarrassment came anger and isolation. From my childish perspective, I was simply a freak. The strange one, the one who couldn’t get the words out, couldn’t do a simple thing like speak clearly. For me, it was like living as a prisoner inside a cell. And the times I just wanted lemonade in the school cafeteria but could only say the word soda”

With his memoir released in 2009, “Step Out on Nothing: How Faith and Family Helped Me Conquer Life’s Challenges”, Byron was able to bring discussion and attention to the problem of stuttering and how young kids have suffered from dealing with as they grew up.

Awards and Recognition

Pitts has won many awards for his coverage as a journalist. He won an Emmy for his work of the Chicago train wreck in 1999 and also for his reporting of the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Aside from his critical acclaim and awards, Pitts has also gotten praise for writing two books, one of which is a memoir. He works as a resident journalist at High Point University and enjoys meeting and encouraging the young students on campus.