After nearly 20 years at KATC, the station’s news director is no longer at the station.

According to an email sent to KATC staff by KATC general manager Sean Trcalek and obtained by KPEL, station management said Letitia Walker was “no longer with the company effective today.”

In the email, Trcalek said the search for a new news director will begin this week and that KATC will “move forward with our mission under new leadership.”

Walker, a native of Chalmette and a graduate of LSU, started her career working behind the scenes at KLFY as a tape editor and writer during the Maria Placer/Dee Stanley regime. In 2002, she moved to KATC, where she was a reporter and fill-in anchor. After a year hiatus during which she taught in the New Orleans area, Walker returned to KATC in 2005 as a producer. In 2007, she ascended to the news director position.

In her 14 years as news director, Walker’s news crew has won numerous awards, including three Emmy Awards and three Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Walker gave us this statement:

So much has changed since the day I first walked into KATC as a UL graduate student in 2002. We went from video tape and bulky live trucks to laptop computers and cell phones that stream live in 4K video. It’s been an amazing and exhilarating transition.

As for Lafayette, I am so lucky to live and work in this community. Our viewers truly are why most of us are in the news business; and I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to serve them every day. They let us into their homes, and my hope is that we made a positive difference in their lives.

As for my work family, they are the biggest reason I have stayed in this position as long as I have! I’ve spent almost two decades at KATC, and can’t express how proud I am of the team and their accomplishments. They truly are like family to me. I know they’re going to do amazing things, and I’ll forever be their biggest fan.

As for my plans, I can’t announce them just yet, but hope to very soon!

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