WFMJ adds news anchor

THE VINDICATOR

YOUNGSTOWN — Cindy Matthews will debut Monday as the newest member of the WFMJ-TV 21 news team. She will join Bob Black in co-anchoring the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts.

Matthews comes to the Youngstown market from Cincinnati, where she was filling in as morning show anchor on WXIX-TV 11. Before that, she was a traffic and consumer affairs reporter at WCPO-TV 9, also in Cincinnati.

WFMJ plans to start a consumer affairs segment that will take advantage of Matthews’ experience.

“Consumer reporting has evolved into my specialty,” Matthews told The Vindicator. “And with the economy not at its best, people need to be aware of how to maximize what they have.”

Matthews holds a masters degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California and a bachelor’s degree in economics and psychology from Tulane University.

The Cincinnati native said the move to Youngstown has easy, because she has family in Boardman.

In addition to her duties as a news anchor and reporter, Matthews will serve as the spokesperson for Our Valley’s Volunteers, a community service initiative between WFMJ and the Volunteers Services Agency.

Matthews is replacing Autumn Ziemba, who left WFMJ several months ago for WEWS TV-5 in Cleveland.