Homegrown talent

Chris Riva, a 1994 Wright State University graduate, recently joined the anchor team at WXIX Fox 19 News in Cincinnati. The Middletown native joins anchors Tricia Macke, Rob Williams, Amber Jayanth and chief meteorologist Steve Horstmeyer on the station’s early evening newscasts.

Riva co-anchors an hour and a half newscast expansion at 5 p.m. The television newscast expansion began on Jan. 6.

“It’s a tremendous honor to see individuals, meet with them, talk to them, they trust you with their story,” said Riva.

Riva is a 1994 graduate of Wright State’s Mass Communication program at Wright State. “Wright State taught me how to communicate,” he said. “Most importantly, they taught me how to listen.”

Riva credits the internship requirements at Wright State and his time at WWSU, the student radio station, for preparing him for the workforce. “By the time I was a sophomore in college I was already working at Z93,” said Riva.

His career in journalism expands over 20 years with jobs in Dayton, Green Bay, Denver and Sacramento before he returned to his hometown in 2014.

“I feel a strong sense of responsibility from what I do for a living to this community,” said Riva.