Multimedia Journalism Professor Lisa Carponelli is adding a new job to her weekly to-do list: the Saturday evening anchor at WHO 13. This marks her return to anchoring.

No stranger to being busy, she now holds the roles of professor, mother, co-owner of the women’s cycling clothing company Velorosa and news anchor.

“Before I came to Des Moines, I was a reporter and anchor in many different cities along the East Coast. I started out as a day-side cops and courts reporter, which mainly covered breaking news,” Carponelli said.

The very first time she tried anchoring, it didn’t go well. However, with lots of practice, four days later she was filling in on a morning newscast. 

“The thing about news is that it’s always right now,” Carponelli said. “Sometimes you have to be very able to pivot if something is new or developing. It also means curating a lot of great sources so you can be working on stories that aren’t due immediately but are also relevant to bringing new details to the community that they didn’t know before.” 

Iowa stations have recently been bringing back veteran anchors like Jodi Long to KCCI and Elias Johnson to WHO.

In an interview with “Hello Iowa!”, Carponelli said, “Channel 13 asked if I was interested in coming back and working Saturday nights and I said absolutely. What it does for me is it allows me a chance to get back into a working newsroom which then benefits our students because I can make sure my skills are up to date and I’m understanding exactly what it is we need to do to prepare our students to be in the most competitive position for getting jobs once they graduate.”

Even though there is a lot on her plate, Carponelli is confident she’ll power through it.

“I rely on my mom-skills a lot,” she said. “You get efficient with time management and knowing where everybody is. It is stuff I enjoy and always find the time to get it done.”

It also helps that she lives in Des Moines, closer to the station than to Simpson.

“There is a little bit of familiarity that comes with folks who have spent their time in Des Moines. It’s a really nice place to live and to raise a family,” Carponelli said. “The quality of life can’t be beat, and that’s what makes the Des Moines market so unique.”

The WHO post about her return says, “Lisa will use her considerable talents as a journalist to tell stories that matter to central Iowans. As the anchor of WHO 13’s late newscasts on Saturdays, she’ll provide viewers with the news impacting their world.”

Carponelli thanks everyone for the opportunities that come her way. “I owe the college administration a huge thanks for recognizing this job as a great opportunity, not only for me