KXAN's Jennifer Sanders promoted to evening anchor
KXAN announced Wednesday that midday and 4 p.m. anchor Jennifer Sanders will take over as full-time evening anchor alongside Daniel Marin.
AUSTIN (KXAN) — KXAN announced Wednesday that midday and 4 p.m. anchor Jennifer Sanders will take over as full-time evening anchor alongside Daniel Marin.
Raised in San Antonio, Sanders joined KXAN in June 2020 as a weekend anchor. Prior to arriving at KXAN, she worked for more than eight years at NewsChannel 9 WSYR-TV in Syracuse, New York.
She started her news career as a writer, web producer and multi-media journalist in North Texas.
During her time in Syracuse, her documentary, "Hidden History: The End of Syracuse's 15th Ward," received an Edward R. Murrow Award and a Syracuse Press Club Award and was nominated for an Emmy. She also earned an Emmy nomination for her documentary, "Hidden History: Syracuse 8," and received a Regional Murrow Award for a separate documentary, "Hidden History: Syracuse Congress of Racial Equality."
Sanders is passionate about the future generation of journalists. While working in Syracuse, she spent two years as a professor teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Since arriving at KXAN, Sanders earned a 2022 Lone Star EMMY Award for her reporting on "Housing History: Racial Displacement in Austin." The special report explored a City of Austin change designed to address decades-long policies that led to gentrification and the displacement of Black and Brown communities.
After starting as a weekend anchor, KXAN named Sanders its inaugural anchor for the 4 p.m. newscast, which debuted in July 2022. She also anchored its 12 p.m. newscast and stayed on the news desk when KXAN expanded its midday show to 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. earlier this year.
Along with her storytelling and anchoring, Sanders has interviewed influential thought leaders and public officials, from speaking one-on-one with Oprah Winfrey and comedian Trevor Noah to covering former President Barack Obama's visit to Cooperstown, New York.
"When I was the co-editor of my high school's yearbook, I attended my first journalism conference as a 16-year-old at the University of Texas at Austin," Sanders told KXAN. "Ever since that moment, I dreamed of reporting in Austin. Almost 20 years later, that dream is a reality. This is an honor of a lifetime."
Sanders has a passion for giving back to her community through solutions-based reporting. She has traveled the globe to understand issues plaguing various communities, which has deepened her compassion and love for people, and it has become an important part of her storytelling.
In her spare time, she is often found volunteering at local schools and universities, emceeing community events, moderating panels, hosting workshops and traveling for lectures on the vitality of journalism. She serves on Texas Lutheran University's Board of Regents and is a member of various community service organizations.
Sanders is from San Antonio but grew up living throughout Europe and the United States while her parents served in the U.S. Army. Sanders received her bachelor's degree in mass communications and Spanish from Texas Lutheran University, along with a master's degree in journalism from the University of North Texas.