Sarafina Brooks joined WFLA in June of 2019 and is thrilled to call Tampa home.
Just prior to joining the Channel 8 family,
Sarafina was the Morning Anchor at WBOY in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She also spent two years as a General Assignment Reporter at KATV in Little Rock, Arkansas but she began her career as a Reporter and Weekend Anchor at WTOV in Steubenville, Ohio.
As a Reporter with KATV, Sarafina had a chance to cover several stories that garnered national attention. Thoes stories included the state’s plan to carry out eight executions in a 10-day period, the legalization of medical marijuana throughout Arkansas and a downtown Little Rock nightclub mass shooting.
While at KATV Sarafina researched and wrote a piece which was summited by the station as one of their yearly Emmy contenders. The story, entitled Wrightsville 21, revisited a sensational Arkansas historical event (1959) where 21 institutionalized African American boys, labeled as juvenile delinquents, mysteriously parished in a fire. That story led to their unmarked graves being memorialized with a standing marker.
Sarafina is also proud of the impact of another one of her specials, a story in which she examined the cause and affect of firefighters exposure to hazardous materials and cancer within the department. Her presentations of this issue assisted an existing proposal to change legislation and was respectfully appreciated by firefighters, their families and the community.
Sarafina also documented her involvement, training and graduation from the Little Rock Citizens Fire Academy. That story allowed the community to experience a more detailed view into the commentment and rigors of cadet training.
Sarafina is from Pittsburgh, Pa., where she graduated from Point Park University with a degree in Broadcast Journalism and Mass Communications. Sarafina’s interest in journalism started when she won several writing contests, including the 2008 NAACP Human Rights Scholarship.
Just before graduating college, Sarafina interned with Pittsburgh TV stations KDKA and WQED.
Sarafina caught the journalism bug only after she was an avid violinist for 12 years. She began playing the violin at the late age of 8 and attended music preparatory schools at Carnegie Mellon University and Duquesne University. While there, she studied Music Theory and Classical Violin and was chosen as a high school student to become a member of the West Virginia University Honors String Orchestra in 2005 and 2006. Just before going off to college, she also studied with Jazz Great Kenny Fisher and the Pittsburgh Jazz Lions.
Sarafina is excited and thankful to be a part of the WFLA family and while telling your stories, she hopes that her life experiences and diverse background will bring creativity and passion to her work.
If you would like to get in touch with Sarafina, please email her at sbrooks@wfla.com.
