Karys Belger is a reporter for 11Alive Morning News in Atlanta, G.A. She joined the team in October of 2021 and shoots, writes, and edits all her own stories. Karys was previously a reporter for the Daybreak morning show on WGRZ-Channel 2 in Buffalo, New York.
As a member of the Daybreak team, Karys covered everything from the investigation of Governor Andrew Cuomo to the preservation of Black American Sign Language. From the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, Karys played an integral part of WGRZ’s coverage of how the pandemic impacted Buffalo’s Black Community. She also used her perspective to enhance her station’s coverage of the Black Lives Matter Movement in Western New York.
Karys was raised in Maryland by two news-junkie parents. She graduated from Spelman College and received her masters From the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. She spent part of her academic career at Queen Mary University of London where she studied literature and theater.
Her professional career began right after Northwestern when she went to work for WFTX in Fort Myers, Florida. In Florida, Karys immediately began reporting on the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the use of internet for human trafficking.
Karys has lived with Sickle Cell (SC) Disease all her life. From a young age, she’s been dedicated to using her skills to inform others about the challenges people with Sickle Cell face.
She has also been recognized for her contributions to the Western New York Community. In 2019 The Links Inc. of Erie County recognized her as an outstanding woman of color in media. She was also selected as one of Buffalo’s Changemakers 30 Under 30 Class of 2019.
She has had work published digitally for the Baltimore Sun, Sojourners Magazine, and US News and World Report. She is also a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.