Gerald Harris

Gerald Harris joined the 13 Action News team in August of 2024. Harris is an experienced reporter, most recently working as a general assignment and political reporter for KHOU in Houston, TX. While there, Harris covered major political stories in Texas and Houston’s Harris County, including the 2022 Governor’s race during which he embedded with O’Rourke’s campaign on their east Texas swing and traveled the state to speak with voters. He also covered severe weather including the Texas arctic blast, flooding, and subsidence amid urbanization.

Prior to KHOU, Harris worked as a reporter for WKRN in Nashville, TN for two years as the Tennessee State Capitol Bureau Reporter covering legislative issues and state government. While there, he worked to hold lawmakers and offices holders accountable to the public and pushed for more press inclusion and accountability across the state. In particular, Gerald covered a historic redistricting of the state’s capitol city, the state’s reallocation of public school dollars, COVID special sessions, the alleged unjustified political firings and threats of violence against Dr. Michelle Fiscus, Tennessee’s former top vaccine chief, and the removal of the bust of the KKK Grand Wizard.

Prior to making a return to his hometown of Nashville, Harris worked as the Senior Political Correspondent for WJTV 12 News in Jackson, Mississippi. While there, he worked to make sure lawmakers were accountable to the people of Mississippi and quickly grew to become the station’s lead political reporter. Harris covered multiple statewide federal and local elections and pushed WJTV to be the leader in political reporting and election debates. He also covered the legislative session including the removal of the old state flag with the confederate emblem and other statewide issues, including severe weather.

While in graduate school at Northwestern University, Harris spent 9 months in the Washington, D.C. campus covering Congress, the Pentagon and the White House for the Medill News Service. The program allowed him to concentrate on American political and national security issues; he attended daily briefings at the White House, observe/engage with the Navy practice exercises, and embedded with crew members on the USS John C Stennis. His final project focused on how the military is reacting to climate change.

Harris is a graduate of Jackson State University in Mississippi with a degree in Mass Communications; he also earned a Master’s degree from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.

Harris was born in Nashville, Tennessee and is a fan of country music, the Tennessee Titans and the Nashville Predators.