Frank A. Daniels Jr. Lecture with Averi Harper

The UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media will host Averi Harper for the Frank A. Daniels Jr. Lecture at 7 p.m. on March 9, 2026.

The event is free and open to the public, but guests are asked to register here to attend.

Guests are also invited to arrive early for a pre-event reception with Harper, students, faculty, staff and the campus and local communities beginning at 6 p.m. in Alumni Hall.

Harper is the political director for ABC News, overseeing the news division’s political coverage and editorial content and managing the political unit. She provides on- and off-air analysis for ABC News programs, ABC News Live, ABC News Digital, ABC News Radio and ABC News stations and affiliates.

Prior to this role, she was named deputy political director in 2021, helping to lead campaign coverage and providing analysis across platforms. In 2019, she joined ABC News as a campaign reporter and producer, crisscrossing the country to report on the 2020 presidential election. During the Democratic primary, she covered numerous candidates, including U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders and former President Joe Biden. During the general election, she covered former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Before her tenure at ABC News, Harper was a general assignment reporter at News 12 New York, where she hosted and co-produced a magazine show focused on minority issues called Diverse Long Island. Harper was also morning reporter for KRON-TV in San Francisco Bay and started her career at WCTI-TV in Greenville, North Carolina, as a bureau reporter and fill-in anchor where she covered severe weather and crime.

She graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts degree in broadcast journalism and holds a Master of Science degree in journalism from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.

She lives in Washington, D.C., with her husband and daughter.

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