Erika is an Edward R. Murrow and Emmy award-winning reporter and fill-in anchor at WWL-TV. As a Mandeville, Louisiana native, she’s excited to be working in her home state.
Erika joined the WWL-TV team in April 2019. She previously worked as a reporter for KTHV in Little Rock, Arkansas and KPLC in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
Before officially joining the Channel 4 team, Erika assisted WWL-TV in coverage of the 2017 tornadoes and Hurricane Nate. She also assisted KHOU in Houston with Hurricane Harvey coverage in 2017 and WCNC in Charlotte with Hurricane Florence coverage in 2018.
If you see Erika out reporting, you’ll most likely notice a camera in hand. As a ‘multi-media journalist,’ Erika typically works solo, shooting and editing her own reports. Her favorite stories to tell are about remarkable people making a positive difference in the communities they live in.
Erika has received an Emmy Award for her coverage of a fisherman who survived Hurricane Ida by riding it out on his shrimp boat. She has also been honored with two regional Edward R. Murrow awards including the 2022 ‘Breaking News’ award for her coverage on the Hurricane Ida Warehouse Evacuation and the 2019 ‘Feature Reporting’ award for her story, ‘A Walking Miracle.’ She was named the 2018 and 2017 ‘Best Solo Journalist’ from the Arkansas-Oklahoma Associated Press. Her coverage on the Ida warehouse earned WWL-TV the 2022 ‘Breaking News’ award, while her coverage on the oldest living WWII veteran earned KPLC the 2016 ‘Uniquely Louisiana’ award for the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters. Erika earned her first broadcasting award in college when she was named the state’s ‘Student Broadcaster of the Year’ by the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters.
Erika graduated from Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond where she spent much of her time working for the student-run news station, ‘Northshore News.’ As a Mandeville native, she is also a proud Fontainebleau High School graduate.
She has emceed several events including ‘Go Red for Women’ and the ‘Louisiana American Italian Sports Hall of Fame.’ In her free time, Erika loves to soak up the hot New Orleans sun by attending outdoor festivals, crawfish boils, riding her bike, or kayaking down Bayou St. John.
If you have a story idea or just want to say hello, you can email Erika at eferrando@wwltv.com or follow her on Twitter @erikaferrandotv.
