On Sunday, longtime anchor, and fixture of Atlanta television news, Brenda Wood stepped down from her 11 p.m. role on the 11Alive newscast.
She made the announcement as part a special segment of "Brenda's Last Word" that aired at the end of the 11 p.m. broadcast.
"This year - 2017 - marks 40 years for me in TV news," Wood said. "Twenty of them here at 11Alive."
In that time, Wood has garnered a national following with her 'Last Word' commentaries which have become a distinct feature of 11Alive’s evening broadcast.
Those commentaries covered a wide variety of subjects and often went viral on social media. Wood has hosted and co-produced several award-winning prime time specials including “Remembering the 1996 Olympics,” “A Conversation Across America,” “50 Years of Change,” “Mission of Hope,” and multiple editions of the Emmy winning magazine show “Journeys with Brenda Wood.”
In her final 11 p.m. broadcast, she said that it was part of her plan to "start a new chapter" and took the opportunity to introduce viewers to the new 11 p.m. co-anchor, Shiba Russell.
Russell joined 11Alive in July of 2016 as a member of the Atlanta Alive morning news team, co-anchoring alongside Vinne Politan, Jaye Watson, StormTracker Chesley McNeil and TrafficTracker Crash Clark.
She officially takes on her new 11 p.m. anchor chair on Monday night.
"And I know it will be in good hands," Wood said.
Meanwhile Wood will continue to anchor the 5 and 6 p.m. news until her official retirement in February.
She first announced her retirement in October of 2016.
