Video: Jobina Fortson-Evans on building CBS News Atlanta from the ground up

Jobina Fortson-Evans is helping write a new chapter for local news in a city she calls home.

As CBS News Atlanta goes on air, Fortson-Evans is anchoring more than a newscast — she’s part of a team building a newsroom, a format, and a relationship with viewers from scratch.

“Launching this new chapter in Atlanta is the opportunity of a lifetime,” she said in a recent episode of The A Block from NCS. “I grew up here watching the news, and there’s such a beautiful legacy of women who have anchored in this city. To be part of that is unbelievable.”

“We had to be here to serve our community,” she said. “Opening night was emotional. Once we wrapped that first newscast, there were tears in the newsroom. It came together.”

What sets CBS News Atlanta apart is its community-first approach and its immersive virtual studio — affectionately nicknamed “the green bathtub.” The fully virtual environment allows the team to build visual storytelling around each night’s coverage, from elections to weather to hyperlocal geography.

“We can show people where stories are happening in a way they’ve never seen before,” Fortson-Evans said. “It’s not just cool visually — it gives context.”

The station’s commitment to participation goes beyond visuals. After community stories air, viewers are prompted with QR codes inviting them to submit story ideas directly to the newsroom.

“The whole point is that we’re doing this together,” she said. “In partnership with the people we serve.”

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For Fortson-Evans, the role also comes with reflection — particularly on confidence and leadership in journalism.

“I’d tell my younger self: be yourself,” she said. “You can respect experience and still show up fully as you.”

Despite the technology and the new format, one tradition matters most to her: community presence.

“There’s no difference between me and someone’s neighbor,” she said. “I just happen to show up on their screen. And I hope that connection in local news never goes away.”

Watch the full interview in this episode of The A Block above, and find more conversations with the people shaping the future of news on the NCS YouTube channel.