About
Blake Hanson is an award-winning journalist for WDSU Newschannel 6 (NBC) in New Orleans, La. His reporting has been broadcast on CNN, The Weather Channel, NBC Nightly News, and on local news stations in nearly every market in America.
Blake has a knack for covering the big stories. When Hurricane Isaac tracked toward New Orleans, he reported live from the first signs of flooding in southeaste Louisiana. When an oil platform exploded in the gulf, he was the only reporter to get aboard a boat and report from the scene. When passengers who were stranded aboard the Carnival Triump got stranded again on a broken down bus, he was the first reporter to uncover the story and talk to a passenger.
While working in Columbia, Mo. he was one of the first reporters on the ground reporting live via satellite after a massive tornado struck Joplin, killing 162 people. When massive flooding threatened the livelihood of thousands of farmers in Southeast Missouri, he was reporting live via Skype, and feeding back packages from the disaster-ridden flood lands.
Blake began his work as broadcast journalist volunteering behind the assignment desk at KOMU-TV (NBC). His first night on the job was during his freshman year of college — and forced him to react quickly to help organize newsroom coverage of a downtown shooting. Since then he has risen through the ranks doing nearly every job at the station: production assistant, ENG operator, photographer, web producer, newscast producer, reporter and anchor.
In 2009, Blake spent his summer interning at WCCO-TV (CBS) and assisting some of the best reporters in the business. During his time there, he found the story of Mary O’Keefe, a 3-year-old who was faced with a terminal illness. Blake pitched the story to station management and WCCO’s coverage led to major donations for the family. Unfortunately, O’Keefe died a couple weeks after the first story, but WCCO chronicled O’Keefe’s touching last moments.
During spring 2011, Blake teamed up with fellow reporter Emily Spain to chronicle the battle over Missouri’s controversial dog breeding industry. Blake and Emily traveled the state to put together a comprehensive report on an issue that had the state divided nearly 50/50. The pair’s story took first place in the Fox News College Challenge, winning the two a trip to New York to showcase their story nationally on Fox and Friends.
In February 2012, Blake placed 2nd in the Hearst Television II competition and moved on to qualify for the championship round in San Francisco where he competed in June of 2012.
Blake lives to tell the untold angles of the big story.

Blake Hanson is a reporter for WDSU Newschannel 6 in New Orleans, La. Blake specializes in political, investigative, and breaking news. His award-winning reports can be seen weekdays from 5 a.m. - 7 a.m. on WDSU News This Morning.