WJLA anchor goes to Marriott

After 30 years, TV news veteran Kathleen Matthews is leaving one high-profile Washington family for another.

“It’s been a six-month engagement and I’m getting married on Friday,” said Mrs. Matthews, the award-winning co-anchor of the 5 p.m. daily newscast at local ABC affiliate WJLA-TV (Channel 7).

Today marks Mrs. Matthews’ last day in the anchor chair. On Friday, she begins a new career at Bethesda-based Marriott International Inc., where she will serve as executive vice president of global communications and public affairs.

“Suddenly I found myself at a different period in my life where my last child is a senior in high school, and that kind of gave me some new freedom in my career,” said Mrs. Matthews, mother of three and wife of MSNBC’s “Hardball” host Chris Matthews.

Since announcing her decision to leave this past summer, she has been busy training for her new job as well as helping Allbritton Communications Inc., which owns WJLA, interview possible replacements.

A California native, Mrs. Matthews, 53, migrated to the District after college to pursue a career in journalism. She joined WJLA in 1976 as a production assistant.

“There was nothing I wanted more than to come to Washington and be a political reporter,” said Mrs. Matthews, who was inspired while studying the French press during a semester abroad as an undergraduate at Stanford University.

In 1982, she became an on-air general assignment reporter and nine years later was named co-anchor of “ABC 7 News at 5.” For the past 10 years, she has co-hosted the weekly public affairs show, “Capital Sunday.”

“She’s at the top of her game,” said Fred Ryan, ABC 7 president and general manager. “We’re sad to see her go, but Kathleen’s very smart, she’s very globally focused and [the Marriott position] just seemed like the perfect match.”

WJLA is still interviewing candidates and won’t name a replacement for Mrs. Matthews until January, Mr. Ryan added. Until then, other anchors will fill in on a rotating basis.

Mrs. Matthews will stay on as a contributor to the station’s prime time news magazine, “Metropolitan Edition,” and other special programming.

Her reporting skills will come in handy at Marriott, where she will be in charge of both internal communications to employees (the hotel chain has about 150,000 of them) and external press relations.

“To communicate the values of travel and interaction as a great way to have public diplomacy in the world … it just kind of lit a new passion,” said Mrs. Matthews, who scrubbed showers as part of the lodging company’s hands-on training process.

Friends and colleagues sent her off with a reception at Allbritton’s Arlington headquarters last night. Tonight the station will air a 2-minute retrospective with highlights from Mrs. Matthews’ reporting career.

“There have been moments when I’ve been looking at those old tapes — through all the hairdos, the babies being born — it’s like, this is your life,” she said.

Mrs. Matthews has won numerous awards during her time at WJLA, including nine regional Emmy awards, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Outstanding Achievement in Electronic Journalism, the David Brinkley Award for Excellence in Communication and American Women in Radio and Television’s Gracie Allen award.

“I think it’s very hard in TV news to figure out when to leave,” she said. “I’m just grateful to go out on the top of my game.”

And then there were none …

Arch Campbell, the only TV entertainment critic in the Washington area, is leaving WRC-TV (Channel 4).

Vickie Burns, the station’s vice president of news and operations, praised him for his “amazing legacy. He is a terrific storyteller, a creative soul, with the most infectious laugh. WRC is proud to have been his professional home for more than 30 years.”

Mr. Campbell is the latest in a string of notable WRC veterans who are leaving the station amid a budget squeeze, including longtime sportscaster George Michael, anchor Susan Kidd and technology reporter I.J. Hudson.

Channel Surfing runs on Wednesdays. Send your tips to Kara Rowland at 202/636-3139 or krowland@washingtontimes.com.