Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore dies from brain cancer

ATLANTA (AP) — Longtime Atlanta news anchor Jovita Moore has died after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer. She was 53.

WSB-TV, where Moore had worked since 1998, announced Friday that Moore died Thursday night from glioblastoma.

“After a nearly 7-month battle with an extremely aggressive form of brain cancer, our colleague and friend Jovita Moore has passed away,” Moore’s co-anchor Justin Farmer said in a video posted on the station’s website. “She passed last night, as she wanted, with her family by her side. She passed peacefully.”

Moore had gone to the doctor in mid-April after feeling like she was going to pass out while walking through a grocery store parking lot.

“I was really concerned about why all of a sudden I was forgetful, disoriented and just not feeling myself. Feeling like I was in a fog and really wanting to get out of that fog,” Moore said at the time.

An MRI revealed two small masses in her brain and she underwent surgery to remove the tumors just days later. In July, she asked WSB to share with viewers that she had been diagnosed with glioblastoma. Treatment can slow the cancer’s progression and reduce signs and symptoms, but a cure is often not possible, according to the Mayo Clinic’s website.

A native New Yorker, Moore worked at WMC-TV in Memphis and KFSM in Fayetteville and Fort Smith, Arkansas, before arriving at WSB. Her death was met with an outpouring of condolences in her adopted city.

Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms called her a “wonderful mother, daughter, and dear friend to many.”

“Even those who did not know her personally felt a deep and personal connection to Jovita,” Bottoms said in a statement posted on the city’s website. “She loved Atlanta dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with her children Lauren, Shelby and Joshua, her mother, and all who loved her. May her beautiful spirit soar. Jovita will be truly missed.”

The Rev. Bernice King, CEO of the Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change, posted photos of herself with Moore on Twitter.

“I will miss you, Jovita. Rest, sister,” King tweeted.

Many in the journalism world also mourned Moore’s passing. The National Association of Black Journalists, or NABJ, said Moore was a longtime member and called her “legendary.”

“Moore battled with brain cancer & inspired many on her journey,” NABJ said in a tweet. “Her legacy of kindness, commitment to her craft, and reaching back to help the next generation will live on.”