Emily Linnert joined the News 8 team in April 2006. She was born in Kalamazoo and one of her first memories is the tornado of 1980 sweeping through her west side neighborhood.
A graduate of Portage Northern High School, Emily decided to give broadcasting a try when she was invited to compete on the school’s award-winning Interscholastic Forensic public speaking and presentation team. That interest led her to Michigan State University and a degree in telecommunications. While in East Lansing, she did freelance work for a variety of MSU sports that aired on cable TV.
Shortly before graduating, she started working part-time at the assignment desk at WLNS in Lansing. That position quickly led to reporting for the morning broadcast. Emily found herself on the anchor desk for the first time after an overnight snowfall of more than 14 inches in December of 2000 stranded her co-workers at home. Not long after, she took over the morning anchor position and stayed there for a few years.
After a brief stint working for the Muscular Dystrophy Association as a fundraiser and event planner, Emily rejoined the ranks of local news as the 11 p.m. producer at WOOD TV8. Her desire to return to news but remain behind the scenes was dashed when her news director assigned her back to her roots as Daybreak reporter. Emily has served as anchor of weekend Daybreak, weekend evenings, Daybreak and currently anchors News 8 at noon and 4 p.m. You can also find her filling on News 8 at 5 p.m. and The Seven.
When she’s not working, you can find her cheering on Michigan State University football, talking to and tending to her indoor and outdoor plants and trees or sampling Beer City USA’s IPAs. Emily and her husband, a news photographer at another station in Grand Rapids, have two daughters, a golden retriever and two cats.
