ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Daralene Jones anchors the 4:00 p.m. newscast on WFTV- Channel 9, alongside Greg Warmoth. She is also a multi-Emmy award-winning journalist, whose reporting has had significant impact across the state and in Central Florida over 15 years.
She is the executive producer of the award-winning Ocoee Massacre project, a comprehensive television documentary, with a companion website and podcast. She also produced the Emmy-Award winning special, Groveland Four: Journey to Exoneration. In addition, her Emmy-Award winning reporting has also exposed the mistreatment of state prison inmates.
Prior to her time with WFTV-Channel 9, Daralene worked as a reporter in Decatur and Springfield, Illinois, Memphis, Tennessee and Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where her reporting was also nominated for numerous Emmy Awards. Daralene has been the lead reporter on major national stories, including politics, education, major storms, and mass shootings.
She is a frequent guest speaker, a member of Florida Executive Women, Investigative Reporters and Editors, National Association of Black Journalists, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., Jack and Jill of America, Inc. and has volunteered through Seniors First and Orange County Public Schools. She currently services on the boards of the Early Learning Coalition of Orange County and the Boys and Girls Club of Central Florida (West Orange Branch). Daralene is a newly published children’s book author. Her book, Luke Learns, was released publicly in February 2024. It’s the first in a series of books about dedicated, but often unseen community helpers. The book is inspired her desire to help facilitate conversations with children about the importance of respecting and understanding all career paths and her desire to expand the diversity of characters in children’s books.
Daralene lives in the greater Orlando area with her husband and three children.
