My City June 2022

MYCOMMUNITY

CUSTER EMCEES THE COVENANT KIDS GALA.

PRESENTING WNEM TV5 News Anchor David Custer —at story begins right here in Gene see County. “I moved to Goodrich from Grand Blanc in the late 80s,” he remem bers. He grew up a Martian and got his ™rst taste of writing as section editor for the Goodrich High School yearbook. He recalls a mostly good experience liv ing in a small mid-Michigan town, with one exception: most days in high school were hard for him. “I was tormented and bullied almost daily by my classmates,” he says. “At the time, I knew I was gay but I kept it to myself and kept it from my parents. After school I would get o› the bus, climb to the top of a hill near my home and cry.—en I would compose myself, walk into the house and THE TRUTH CUSTER HAS WON 7 EMMY AWARDS FOR HIS WORK. at WNEM TV5 since 2016 and an openly gay man, he has hidden noth ing from his viewing audience. Every night, Custer, alongside his friend and co-anchor Meg McLeod anchors the 5pm, 5:30pm, 6pm and 10pm broad casts, providing up-to-date news bulle tins and stories ranging from tragic to inspiring. His reporting has earned him seven regional Emmy Awards, several Associated Press and Michigan Asso ciation of Broadcasters Awards, and the Great Lakes Bay Region’s Ruby Award as one of the brightest professionals under the age of 40. His personality, style and local storytelling has won him the coveted My City Magazine City’s Choice Award for Best News Anchor for the last six years. (As of this writing, Custer was nominated for 5 more Emmy Awards.)“It is the job of the journalist to seek the truth, to hold F or David Custer, presenting the truth is everything – both as a journalist and personally. As the head news anchor BY PETER HINTERMAN PHOTOS PROVIDED BY AMBER HENRY PHOTOGRAPHY AND DAVID CUSTER people accountable and expose corrup tion,” he states. “It is our responsibility to accurately tell a story as it is and hold nothing back.”—is is always true of Custer: even when the story is his own.

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