The News on Merit Street
7/6 p C
The relentless pursuit of truth free of speculation and opinion and an understanding that the headline of any story is only the beginning.
Episodes
Cast
Biography
Loni Coombs, Merit Street’s evening anchor and chief legal analyst, is here to help viewers understand the intricacies and implications of news stories that have landed in the court system or are headed that way. Whether the stories are about political leaders, celebrities, or everyday Americans, Loni will cut through the soundbites and spin to weigh in on legal strategies, potential outcomes, and the impact judgements will have on the rest of our lives. The relentless pursuit of justice has been a cornerstone of Loni’s life and mission. Prior to her broadcast career, she served as a criminal prosecutor for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office for 18 years. In this role, she fought to convict defendants ranging from stalkers to murderous gang members. As Deputy-in-Charge of the LA-Malibu Courthouse, she handled high-profile celebrity cases, and headed up the District Attorney’s Hate Crimes Unit, where she oversaw all the most complex hate crime cases in the county. Additionally, she served as part of the Crimes Against Police Officers special unit, which investigated/prosecuted all the cases involving a police officer being shot and/or killed in the line of duty. Since leaving public service, Coombs has been a legal commentator for numerous news and entertainment outlets, such as: CNN, the Today Show, The View, Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Access Hollywood, Extra, Entertainment Tonight, and Court TV. She’s hosted more than five True Crime documentaries, where she actively re-investigated murder and wrongful conviction cases. Additionally, she served as field reporter, primetime newscast anchor, and morning show host on KTLA 5 in Los Angeles, where she was awarded the Associated Press Mark Twain Award for her gavel-to-gavel coverage of the Phil Spector trial.
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Biography
Kris was the natural choice to anchor the Merit Street evening news because he’s reported from big cities and small towns coast to coast during his landmark 25 years in national and local TV news. Most recently, he served as the main nightly news anchor at the NBC News affiliate in Houston. Kris honed his craft as a field reporter in Austin and Sherman, Texas, and Youngstown, Ohio before anchoring prominent newscasts in Chicago and Dallas. Now, as lead anchor of Merit Street’s flagship nightly news broadcast, he brings his brand of tireless, uncompromised journalism to a nationwide audience. Kris aims to be a voice of reason, clarity, and sanity in a media landscape that tends to reward the loudest and harshest voices and opinions. He chooses facts over fear, nuance over hyperbole, and calm over calamity. He wants his viewers to leave the broadcast feeling informed and optimistic so they can make educated decisions on issues important to their lives. He has a rich history of doing this. Following the death of George Floyd, Kris anchored news coverage that earned his station a coveted Edward R. Murrow award. Merit Street is honored to welcome one of the most respected names in Heartland Journalism. Kris was the first news anchor in the state of Texas to be nominated for a regional Emmy award as best News Anchor, seven years in a row. He won the individual honor an unprecedented six times. The Houston Press Club honored Kris as a Top Television Journalist and his trademark storytelling earned a Best Live Report award from the Dallas Press Club. FOX News Channel hired him to lead the network’s Dallas bureau; he was the sole reporter responsible for all editorial content in a four state region that included Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana.
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Biography
Lyndsay Keith, host of the popular series Centerpoint on TBN, moves onto Merit Street as our primetime news co-host. The ray of light she brings to the screen encompasses her full spectrum of talent, including storytelling, journalism, interview and debate; she has the drive, tenacity and spirit it takes to get to the facts at the heart of any news story. For years, Lyndsay has worked on both sides of the camera to become one of the nation’s most trusted communications professionals. Early in her career, she worked as a press lead for the Mitt Romney presidential campaign. As Senior Director of Media Relations for Harbinger, she organized media relations for Pope Francis’s visit to the United States and arranged media coverage of many presidential debates. From there, Lyndsay served as the Deputy Director of Communications and spokesperson for the Republican National Committee. Google hired her to manage brand strategy and executive engagement, leveraging her ability to bring people together to build essential business relationships. She began her broadcast career as the Liberty Flames Sports Network’s sideline reporter. As co-anchor of the nightly sports show, Game On, she interviewed coaches, players, and sports personalities from NCAA colleges, MLB, NBA, and NFL. Prior to joining TBN, she hosted a nationally televised series tackling the day's top political stories.
About
Each day we are bombarded by screaming headlines that all too often are far more confusing than they are informative. The truth is a headline does not a story make. Usually, not even close. Full Story will take the top headlines of the day, and in the immortal words of Paul Harvey, deliver “the rest of the story.” The full context that only a deeper dive into the facts, figures, circumstances, and even history, can provide. Each weeknight, co-hosts Kris Gutierrez, Lyndsay Keith and Loni Coombs will take us on a journey to unravel the mysteries and dispel the misinformation of the nightly news.