Joe Fisher, a reporter at WRAL since 2018, will deliver his final report for the station on Wednesday.

Fisher let folks know through social media on May 9 that he’s moving on. He hasn’t revealed exactly what’s next, but says he’s leaving the area and will continue to work in journalism.

“This is the only job I’ve ever wanted,” Fisher told The News & Observer via email.

“To say I will miss Raleigh would be an understatement. This city and North Carolina will always have a piece of my heart.”

Fisher grew up in a Philadelphia suburb and said he has known since he was eight years old that he wanted to be a reporter, starting a family newspaper at age 10 with “a circulation of four homes.”

A graduate of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, Fisher came to WRAL in 2018 after stints at WAVY-TV in Hampton Roads, Va., KSWO-TV in Lawton, Okla. and the Press Enterprise in Bloomsburg, Pa.

Coverage of COVID and protests

He started out in Raleigh as the overnight breaking news reporter at WRAL, moving in 2020 to report on pandemic and vaccine developments for the afternoon and evening newscasts. He also reported from downtown Raleigh in May 2020, following the death of George Floyd.

“The display of raw emotion, intense activism and destruction over two days makes that reporting some of the most challenging and memorable of my career,” Fisher said of the protests.

Fisher has worked since 2021 as part of the WRAL Investigates team, and has reported on the fentanyl crisis, crime, public transit and more. He was named Reporter of the Year by the Radio Television Digital News Association of the Carolinas in 2022.

In his message to The N&O, Fisher said he’s touched by the outpouring of support from viewers since he announced his plans to leave.

“I am very thankful for the viewers who have supported my work and I’m blown away by their words of encouragement as I depart,” he said.

“The people who report the news and those who watch or read the news have a special shared interest: we all want to feel a bit closer to our community everyday,” he said. “Local reporting is essential to uncovering stories that lead to understanding and change. To me, that’s what journalism is all about.”