(This story has been updated with new information.)
A familiar face at a local broadcast station has announced her time in Indianapolis is up.
WRTV-6 investigative reporter Rachael Wilkerson announced via Facebook that she’s leaving the station after four years on the air. In a Sept. 12 post, she said she’d decided not to sign a new contract.
“It wasn’t an easy decision, but I’ll never forget this community,” the post reads. “Thank you Indianapolis for allowing me to share your stories.”
Wilkerson has not yet decided her next destination, but she told IndyStar it felt like the right decision to leave.
“I feel like everything comes in seasons,” Wilkerson said. “I just feel like really my season here was up.”
Wilkerson — a Michigan City, Indiana native — signed on at the station in 2021 after a three-year stint at NBC 15 in Mobile, Alabama. She covered crime, housing, local government and a range of community stories while at WRTV.
Wilkerson was part of WRTV’s coverage of the Delphi murders — the 2017 killings of teenagers Abigail “Abby” Williams and Liberty “Libby” Williams on a hiking trail in Delphi, Indiana. The team won a Central Great Lakes Emmy award for its newscast on the arrest of Richard Allen, who was eventually convicted and sentenced to 130 years in prison, in 2023.
Wilkerson also received Emmy nominations for WRTV’s coverage of the recovery efforts following the March 2023 Whiteland tornado, turmoil in the Indianapolis Housing Agency and more. She was nominated individually for daily news reporting at the Central Great Lakes chapter’s 2024 ceremony.
Wilkerson said she’ll remember the relationships she forged with viewers in Indianapolis and her time spent in the community.
“You can’t be a good reporter if you don’t connect with people,” Wilkerson said. “It’s their story. You have to connect with them.”
Her departure comes amid other local broadcast shakeups. More than 20 employees at WISH-TV are out after not signing a new contract with an extended noncompete agreement. The employees either quit or were fired in the weeks after Circle City Broadcasting, the station’s parent company, introduced the new contract.
Contact IndyStar Pop Culture Reporter Heather Bushman at hbushman@gannett.com. Follow her on X @hmb_1013.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WRTV-6 reporter announces departure from local broadcast station
Reporting by Heather Bushman, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
