Brandon Roberts is an award-winning journalist who has returned home to Kentucky as a digital reporter for Spectrum News 1.

He was most recently the publisher and editor of the Mitchell News-Journal in Spruce Pine, N.C., where he spent four years overseeing all aspects of the weekly newspaper. Before that, he held writing and editorial posts at the Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W.V., The Ironton (Ohio) Tribune, Georgetown (Ky.) News-Graphic and The Highland County Press in Hillsboro, Ohio.

In the midst of that, from 2009-13, he served as Pike County’s director of public relations, where he gained television experience as a host/interviewer for PIKE-TV, the county’s government access channel. In that role, he earned five Kentucky Association of Government Communicators Awards of Merit and became certified FEMA public information officer.

Brandon grew up in Pike County, in the coal-mining town of Belfry, where he played football for the legendary coach Philip Haywood at Belfry High School. He then attended Eastern Kentucky University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism with a minor in political science.

A longtime guitar player and collector of sports cards, he also enjoys the beach, kayaking, the Natural Bridge-Red River Gorge areas, the Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. Two of his favorite places in the world are Rupp Arena and Keeneland. Married to Rhonda since 2012, he has a teen-aged stepson he considers his best friend, and they have three dogs and a cat.