To fully tell the story of Barbara Ciara the journalist, you have to look at the stories she's told over her more than 40 years on Hampton Roads television.
Just ask her friends and former colleagues — they'll tell you, Barbara's a force.
"She not only was on TV every night, but she was literally within the community," said WHRO's Barbara Hamm Lee.
"She's a true journalist. She's an absolute true journalist," said former WAVY-TV anchor Alveta Ewell.
"I'm not afraid of any reporter on planet Earth. But if I ever had to go up against Barbara Ciara, I'd be nervous," said Byron Pitts, ABC News Nightline co-anchor and Barbara's former colleague.
When we sat down to talk, Barbara recalled standing up to her boss early in her career.
"I'd gotten a scoop about a judge who had been arrested for trying to solicit a prostitute. And he did not believe in my sources. And the newspaper beat us the next morning, and I stood on my hind legs and said, 'I hope you don't miss another opportunity to get a scoop again,'" Barbara recalled.
That drive is part of what makes Barbara special. She is a trusted voice behind the anchor desk, but Barbara may be at her best when she tells your stories, reporting from down the street and all around the world.
When the military hit the beaches of Haiti following an uprising, Barbara traveled there too — bringing the stories of locally-based troops and their mission of mercy home.
Barbara reflected on her coverage in Haiti, stating: "We met a little boy who supported his family by having a shoe shine kit. And he would offer to shine shoots. And we saw him one day and he was very happy and he was doing his thing and the next time we saw him, he was bloodied and beaten because someone stole his little shoeshine kit. And that is when I just kind of felt like someone hit and pulled the Earth from beneath me, because I felt like so many of us feel like we're having a bad day. We don't understand our privilege."
If a major story with ties to Tidewater broke anywhere, it's a good bet Barbara was there too.
"I wanted to go where our local troops were, where our local sailors were to cover it and tell their story so that we can reassure the people at home what they were doing and what they were experiencing," said Barbara.
Barbara's been around the globe during her 40-plus year career in journalism — from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain during the first Iraq War in 1990, to perhaps one of the biggest stories of her career about a decade later in the aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks.
"There were so many people attached to the military who were so worried. And they were just grief-stricken because they knew that there were casualties. And then the question is who? And so those days were very, very difficult after 9/11," said Barbara.
Barbara traveled with locally-based sailors, reporting on the U.S. air assault against the Taliban in Afghanistan.
"We also had the privilege of bringing a flag that had been in New York, to the crew. And the tears... the tears they shed, knowing that that was their mission. But that flag had been so close to Ground Zero is something I don't think I'll ever forget," said Barbara.
Yes, Barbara has traveled the world and interviewed presidents, but she is most proud of her work that gave a voice to the voiceless in Hampton Roads. She was awarded the Capitol Regional Emmy award for her series of reports called "Guilty Til Proven Innocent."
She spent time in some of Norfolk's most crime-plagued communities, giving terrified children a voice in her Emmy-nominated "Letters from the Hood" stories.
From breaking news to award-winning documentaries to big stories around the world, Barbara's always been there. And Hampton Roads is oh so fortunate to have been along for the ride.
"I think that ascending to the anchor desk, maybe gives you the opportunity to cover the big story. And that's the way I always looked at it," said Barbara.
