Walking into WSB-TV, Jorge Estevez is full of energy as he begins a new journey with the news station. Estevez’s first day was on Jan. 13, making him the station’s first openly LGBTQ anchor. Estevez comes from WFTV in Orlando and is anchoring the 5 pm and 11pm newscasts with Jovita Moore.
“To be able to work alongside a team of people who have been doing this for decades is truly a gift,” he said. “So for me to be able to slip in here and have made it through the process, and someone somewhere feels I’m a good fit is so humbling that I do not take it for granted.”
Estevez is looking forward to meeting more people, expanding his horizons, and learning more about other parts of the country. His goal is to get out in the Atlanta community and its surrounding areas.
“So I’m looking forward to people telling me the kinds of stories that need to be told because without them we have no purpose,” he said. “They’re the ones who drive our purpose, they’re why we get up and come to work every day.”
He wants to focus on the stories that impact the people who make up the state, he said.
One of the first stories Estevez did for WSB-TV was about Atlanta Hawks player Trae Young who “donated $10,000 to relieve medical debt, which is the equivalent of relieving $1 million of medical debt because for $1 you donate you relieve $100 of medical debt,” he said.
The most impactful story Estevez said he did was covering the events surrounding the Pulse Nightclub shooting in Orlando in 2016.
“Having a connection to that community was incredible for me, in the sense that one feels it that much more, not as much as family and friends of the 49 victims of course but as a community, we feel it, and the world was behind us,” he said.
A week after the shooting three young people organized a march in Orlando which honored the victims of the shooting. A candlelight vigil took place at Lake Eola Park and Estevez helped host the event.
“I told everyone it’s time to light the candles to remember our 49 angels, and everyone started lighting candles. When I tell you seeing all the candles around the lake, 50,000-60,000 people. It was so impactful. You can’t even begin to imagine how this will change our lives forever as a city. It was just one of the most remarkable moments that I’ve had the pleasure of presiding over,” Estevez said.
“It changed me. It changed how I approach a news story. It changed how I approach people,” he added. “It changed how I live my life every day.”