Lee Zurik: From bright-eyed sports reporter to award-winning investigator

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) – Lee Zurik’s last day on the Fox 8 anchor desk is Thursday, October 10.

Although stepping away from daily anchoring duties, Zurik is not leaving the station.

Zurik’s story begins at Newman High School, where he was hanging out in the sports department before heading off to Syracuse University to pursue his dreams.

John Snell: Are you an accidental investigative reporter?

Zurik: I am totally an accidental investigative reporter. C’mon, I was a sports guy.

But first, he had to pay his dues.

After college, he made career stops in Greenville, MS; Montgomery, AL; Baton Rouge, LA; and finally New Orleans.

“Covering the Saints, the Hornets at the time moved back, covering LSU, Tulane in my hometown. It appeared to be the dream job,” Zurik said.

But everything changed after Hurricane Katrina. With most of the city underwater, that young sports reporter suddenly found himself anchoring overnights – and excelling at it. So much so, his bosses told him he was done with sports.

Zurik says he didn’t resist.

“I was on board. Part of me wanted a new challenge, but part of me… I have New Orleans in my blood,” he said. “I wanted to do my part in trying to help bring the city back and I thought I could do a bigger part of that in telling stories and reporting on the aftermath.”

At the time, Fox 8 General Manager Mikel Schaefer was his executive producer.

“And he soon took over the weekend anchor spot and became this crazy, great investigative reporter,” Schaefer recalled.

Snell: When he started doing his first investigative stuff, there wasn’t this vision that he would go on and become Lee Zurik, Chief Investigative Reporter.

Schaefer: No. Just like anything, he throws his heart and soul into everything.

Lee Zurik Investigations

By 2009, Schaefer was News Director at Fox 8.

“He continued to grow and got better and learned how to be an even better investigator reporter and the body of work is… it’s unmatched,” Schaefer said.

Long before the first frame of video was shot on some story, you could often find Zurik in his office, cluttered with paper, burying himself in the tedious work of combing through mountains of public records.

The national awards piled up; two Peabody Awards, three Dupont-Columbia Awards, and 12 Edward R. Murrow Awards.

Fox 8 needed a bigger trophy case.

Zurik’s reporting often zeroed in on the actions of public officials who strayed from the path of righteousness only to find themselves one random day confronted with a jarring announcement – Lee Zurik is on the phone or at the door.

His reputation grew so prolific that Gray Media, Fox 8’s parent company, named him Corporate Vice President of Investigations.

Then came the daily show Investigate TV+, which airs on over 120 stations across the country.

Now, Zurik is stepping into a new role as Senior Vice President of News Strategy and Innovation at Gray Media, where he will focus on planning for the future of news and media.

“There’s more of a need for us now than ever because other industries have cut back, don’t have the resources. So, we need to be there for our communities,” Zurik said.

Read more: Lee Zurik and John Snell enter new roles; Lucy Bustamante returns home as Fox 8 morning anchor