John Carter

John Carter is the co-anchor of WBTV News This Morning and also anchors WBTV News at Noon.

Born: St. Charles, Missouri.

Family: Mom, Shirley, is a Missouri native but his dad, Billy (who passed away in 2013), was from North Carolina. They were married in Foristell, Missouri and lived in nearby St. Charles where John was born.  When John was nine, his family moved to North Carolina.  They first moved to Shelby, then Asheville, Black Mountain, Swannanoa, and then back to Shelby.  John currently lives in Charlotte.   His mom, brother and sister-in-law live in Shelby.  John's two children, Jerry and Candice, are married and also live in the area.

Education: Three years at Charles D. Owen High School in Swannanoa, then senior year at Crest High School in Shelby. After high school, it was off to Appalachian State University in Boone where John graduated with a degree in Communication Arts with a concentration in Broadcasting.

Career: Not long after graduating from ASU, John began working at WBTV as a news assistant. Over the course of the next few years, John had many roles at WBTV, including general assignment reporter, consumer reporter, Western Bureau Chief/reporter, news producer/consumer producer, and news producer/managing editor. He was also host of the popular Carolina Camera feature, traveling across North and South Carolina to bring back stories of interesting and unusual people, places and things.

Following his work on Carolina Camera, John left WBTV and formed his own video production business. He also opened what turned out to be a very successful comic book shop, Off The Wall Comics, in Lincolnton that he later turned over to his brother Allan.

During his time away from WBTV, John became very involved in politics and was elected to the North Carolina Senate, representing the 25th District which was made up of Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln and Rutherford Counties. John chose not to run for a second term because of family and business considerations.

After leaving the Senate, John began work with Mecklenburg County as a Public Information Specialist where he supervised the county's video production work and acted as a county spokesperson. Just a few years later, WBTV came calling again, and John returned to the station to anchor the WBTV News Morning Show and later, WBTV News at Noon.

Honors: Over the course of the years, John has received numerous awards and honors for his video and journalistic work. He's also a recipient of the Order of the Long Leaf Pine, which is North Carolina's highest civilian award.

Personal Cause: In late 2005, John was diagnosed with prostate cancer, the number one cancer in men in the United States. He's done a series of stories on his diagnosis and continues to do updates on his treatment as well as stories on the latest in medical research and technology. Following a fourth biopsy, doctors were not able to find any cancer, so John is now being treated under an "active surveillance" program.  John works closely with the American Cancer Society to get out the message about the life saving importance of early detection.  If you'd like John to speak to your group, church  or organization about prostate cancer, contact him at jcarter@wbtv.com .   John is also a strong supporter of reading.  Over the years he has visited countless schools and other organizations to speak about the importance of reading.  If you would like John to come speak to your school or organization about reading, contact him at jcarter@wbtv.com

Hobbies: John's  favorite activity is spending time with family and friends. He is a voracious reader. He loves sports as well. John is a regular runner (but he readily admits he's not fast, although he's steady) and has participated in many road races in Charlotte and across the southeast. He completed his first marathon (the Myrtle Beach Marathon) in 2007.  He's also completed the Marine Corps Marathon two times.  John is the general manager of the WBTV softball teams, coaches one, and plays as well. He loves skiing in the N.C. mountains and going to ASU Mountaineer football games. He plays golf as often as he can. John is also a collector of comics, sports cards, action figures and other memorabilia.

Email John Carter: jcarter@wbtv.com