Darrel Adams serves as the Executive News Director for Waterman Broadcasting (NBC2 and ABC7). He has been with the station since 1997.
During his tenure at Waterman Broadcasting the station has won three National RTNDA Edward R. Murrow’s for Investigative Reporting. Darrel says, “I believe investigative reporting is the foundation of a great news department.” The station has also won several Regional Awards including Best Station, Best Breaking News, Best Newscast and Best Reporting. The news staff has won many Florida Associated Press Awards too, including Best Overall, Best Newscast, Best Weathercast, Best Sports, Best Public Affairs, and Best Reporting.
Darrel currently serves on the ABC News Director Advisory Board. This is a select group of News Directors who give feed back to the network. He served as Board Chair from 2006-08. He as served on many local boards, including the founding board of the Southwest Florida Affiliate of Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. He has also served on the Island Coast AIDS Network (ICAN) and Children’s Home Society boards. He is a 2003 Graduate of Lee County Emerging Leaders and one of Gulfshore Life’s 2008 Men of the Year.
Darrel came to Fort Myers from Minneapolis. He was the senior executive producer for KSTP-TV in the Twin Cities.
The ABC affiliate is a news organization known for its excellence in journalism, having earned such prestigious awards at the Alfred DuPont-Columbia Journalism Award and the George Foster Peabody Award. Darrel himself has won two Emmy’s.
Before joining KSTP-TV, Darrel worked in Cedar Rapids, Iowa at KGAN-TV and in St. Cloud, Minnesota at KXLI-TV. Darrel has served as a reporter, anchor, producer and in several management positions.
A native of Motley, Minnesota, Darrel holds a degree in broadcast journalism and speech communication from St. Cloud State University. He grew up on a dairy farm in Central Minnesota.
Darrel currently lives in Lee County and is the proud father of twin daughters.