‘This is emotional for me;’ Gabrielle Enright promoted at WHIO-TV

DAYTON — To see people, we work with be rewarded for their hard work makes us all at WHIO-TV very happy. We are excited to share that Gabrielle Enright’s 25-plus years of accomplishments at WHIO-TV.

Enright’s family raised her on watching WHIO-TV. Channel 7 was always on at her grandmother’s house.

“My grandma, the noon news with Ed Krahling, watching right after The Price Is Right, just became part of the fabric,” Enright said.

As far back as she can remember, something about channel 7 captivated her. In 1997, Enright applied for a behind the scenes job at WHIO-TV. It took her six months to get in the door.

“I remember Gabby as that young person running the camera here in the studio,” said News Center 7 anchor Cheryl McHenry.

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Enright can laugh about it now, but she remembers how she almost quit after her first day at WHIO running a studio camera.

“The director told me to zoom in and I cut off Jim Baldridge’s head during the 6 o’clock newscast. I went out to the parking lot and cried, called my dad, and said I could not do this,” Enright said.

In 1998, WHIO-TV promoted Enright to the newsroom, and she wrote news stories for Jim Baldridge, Cheryl McHenry and other anchors.

Then, on Christmas Day 2000 Enright reported on air for the first time.

The bosses saw her potential and co-workers admired her can-do attitude.

“In my 41 years at channel 7, I don’t know anyone who worked harder that Gabby Enright. A determination and worth ethic like none other. The job that needed to be done, Gabby did it,” said retired News Center 7 Sports Director Mike Hartsock.

Enright’s never been afraid to chase a story, but admittedly, there are a few she hopes not to repeat.

In 2001, WHIO-TV was so confident in Enright the bosses sent her to east to run the Greene County bureau and the viewers loved her.

“It’s very special for a reporter to say they are covering their home. Their own backyard. That’s what Gabby does every day,” said former News Center 7 reporter Layron Livingston.

She and photojournalist Chuck Hamlin became engrained in Greene County. If there was a story, these two would find it.

At the station, co-workers called them an old married couple. When they were not in Greene County, WHIO-TV would send them on the road, sometimes thousands of miles away covering natural disasters and traveling with Ohio Task Force One.

In 2012, Enright joined News Center 7′s Daybreak team. Ask anyone who’s ever worked with her, they praise her.

“I think of a person who is happy, who is hard-working, who is kind of the Sammy Sosa of the newsroom who can do anything. She’s produced, she’s reported, she’s anchored, and she does it all very well,” McHenry said.

The same goes for WHIO-TV viewers, It’s the infectious smile – she’s down to earth. She’s generous, yet feisty. She is the girl next door. Every TV station wishes they had 10 more people just like her.

“This is emotional for me. I’m a little kid who gets the opportunity to live her dream and I don’t know what else to say,” Enright said.

Thankfully she’s our own Gabrielle and are fortunate enough to watch as this little girl from Dayton has worked hard to make her dream come true at channel 7.

At this time, I think she’s so deserving of taking on our 5:30 p.m. and 11 o’clock news. I couldn’t be prouder of her,” McHenry said.

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