Chris Welch is a multimedia journalist for Spectrum News+, based in New York City. He covers both breaking news and feature stories, with an emphasis on how decisions made in Washington, D.C. affect Americans across the nation. 

Chris got his start in journalism during high school when the news director at KTIV-TV in Sioux City, Iowa saw potential in a 17-year-old intern and gave him an opportunity to shoot and report local news. This inspired a degree in broadcast journalism and political science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, followed by an internship with NBC News in New York supporting breaking news coverage. He is also a national champion of the Hearst Journalism Awards, a competition for college journalists. 

Chris has covered the news for more than 20 years, both locally and with national networks. He spent a decade with CNN in multiple roles - including as embedded producer with Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign and as a multimedia journalist in Minneapolis. On one of his most memorable assignments, Chris travelled to the North Atlantic Ocean aboard the 100the anniversary cruise ship to visit the exact location where the Titanic sank on April 15, 1912. Chris has also served stints at CBS News, "Inside Edition," Scripps – where he was a correspondent based in Denver, Colorado – and at Spectrum News NY1 in New York City.

As the solo anchor of "The Noon," Fox 5 New York’s midday newscast, Chris helmed breaking news coverage of President Donald Trump’s arraignment on criminal charges, New York’s response to the Covid pandemic, and Andrew Cuomo’s resignation as governor. He also delighted theatregoers with regular interviews of some of Broadway’s brightest stars.

Chris has won four regional Emmy awards, was part of a CNN team that won a Peabody Award for coverage of the 2008 election, and was part of a Scripps team that took home the 2018 Walter Cronkite Award for Excellence in Political Journalism.

In his free time, you will find Chris watching a Broadway show, enjoying his favorite New York City restaurants and cocktail bars, or flying to Nebraska to visit his family, including his niece and nephew.

You can follow him on X @thisiscwelch.