Derek Dellinger is the Sunday night anchor and weekday reporter for Queen City News.
He’s been with the station since 2018. In his time here, he became the chief reporter on a number of stories — the saga over North Carolina’s District 9 2018 Congressional Race, the largest-of-its-kind gas leak along the Huntersville section of the Colonial Pipeline, the many local responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. He has also been a part of the station’s team coverage on everything from Hurricane Helene to the last three major elections, to the still-unsolved story of a missing Cornelius girl Madalina Cojocari.
He’s also been a major part of Queen City News’ Pride Month coverage in 2022, 2023, and 2024, has contributed several stories to Nexstar’s NewsNation cable network, and has been seen across the country reporting on various stories of consequence locally and regionally.
Derek came to Charlotte from FOX Carolina in Greenville, South Carolina, where he was weekend anchor and reporter. While there, he extensively covered events in Upstate South Carolina, Western North Carolina, and Northeast Georgia, from elections, to crime, to severe weather. His stories at the station included extensive coverage of the life and times of Billy Graham after his death, an effort of a husband to get his wife a kidney transplant, a major school shooting in that area, and a major serial killer case that spanned more than a decade.
Career highlights also included one of the first interviews with former CIA director Porter Goss, following the death of Osama bin Laden while working at the NBC and ABC stations in Fort Myers, Florida; and covering the numerous economic changes in the Tennessee Valley while working at the ABC station in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
Derek’s career spans over two decades, having worked in radio in both his native western North Carolina and in Tennessee, as everything from a staff announcer and producer, to host, to news anchor and reporter.
He’s a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.