When longtime CBS 8 TV reporter Marcella Lee found out last October that she had a good chance of getting a plum spot on the station’s weeknight anchor desk, she burst into tears.
It had been that kind of year.
Lee began co-anchoring CBS 8’s weeknight newscasts with Carlo Cecchetto on a temporary basis in December of 2020, after her good friend and colleague Barbara-Lee Edwards cq went to the emergency room with what turned out to be a brain bleed. The plan was for Lee to fill in while Edwards worked on getting her health back, and Lee was good with that.
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But after 10 months, Edwards called Lee and told her she wasn’t coming back. And when Lee interviewed Edwards later for a CBS 8 update on her health, Edwards said she hoped that Lee would stay right where she was. Which is exactly where Lee never thought she would be.
“When Barbara-Lee called and said she was going to be out for the foreseeable future, I cried. But she was so supportive the whole time,” Lee said in a phone interview from her North County home.
“It was hard for her to leave, and it was hard for me to step into her shoes. She was an icon for so many years, but she showed me so much grace that it felt OK.”
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Last December, CBS 8 and its sister station, CW San Diego, officially announced that Lee was being promoted to main anchor for its three weeknight newscasts. Nearly 18 years after she joined the KFMB Stations as a weekend anchor and reporter, the Emmy-winning journalist who got into the business because she wanted to tell other people’s stories opened a brand-new chapter.
And it’s pretty action-packed already.
On a typical day, Lee gets to KFMB’s Kearny Mesa studios around 3 p.m. to prepare for the 5 p.m. newscast. She is back on the air for the 6 p.m. broadcast with Cecchetto. She breaks for dinner, and then she gets to work on the 10 p.m. news for the CW side, which she anchors with Jesse Pagan. Then it’s back with Cecchetto for the 11 p.m. news for CBS 8.
At 11:30 p.m., she can call it a day. For a few hours, anyway.
In addition to being an anchor who also loves to be out in the field reporting on breaking news, Lee is a mother and a daughter who specializes in juggling.
Lee and her husband, Tony, are the parents of 15-year-old twins. Lee’s mother, Lucy, has been living with the family since Lee’s father died in 2014. Lucy was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in the spring of 2019, and Lee is her primary caregiver. Which means that her days are just as busy as her nights.
“In the ‘80s and ‘90s, they used to talk about ‘the sandwich generation,’ and that’s where I am,” said Lee, who spends mornings with her mother and dashes home for dinner with her kids a few nights a week. “I have a super-supportive husband, and I couldn’t do it without him.
“I always carry a little mother’s guilt with this job. But I realize that my kids are proud of me, and they see that I’m happy doing this job.”
Lee couldn’t do her job without her family. And if it weren’t for her family, she may not have ended up in this job at all.
The Detroit native went to the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business with the plan of doing something practical. But as Lee was finishing up her junior year, her mother asked her what she really, really wanted to do. When Lee told her that she was very, very interested in reporting the news, Lucy suggested she start looking for summer internships. Lee got one at a local CBS affiliate, and by the end of her first day, she knew two things.
No. 1, this was the job she was meant to do. No. 2, her mother was right. Her mother would always be right.
“My mom said, ‘If you want something, you should always try to achieve it. The worst that could happen is you would still be on the same path. But it could also open a path to something better,’” Lee said of her mother, who went to law school in Taiwan and got her master’s in library and information science at Wayne State University in Detroit.
“I miss my mom’s advice. But she’s done her work. It’s my turn now.”
One of Lee’s signature on-air projects has been her “Fostering Hope” segments featuring foster children in San Diego County who need permanent homes. Her stories have helped nearly 900 children become part of a forever family. Lee’s heartwarming “Fostering Hope” stories have endeared her to viewers, who look at Lee and see someone who is dedicated to a project in a way that feels true and personal.
“Marcella is warm and caring, and she knows her stuff,” said Alberto Mier y Terán, president and general manager of KFMB Stations. “She has been at our stations for a long time, and our viewers know her. She has had a very positive impact on our community.
Lee struck a communal nerve again in the fall of 2019, when she did a segment about her mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis. Lee interviewed Lucy and shared the family’s struggles, as they worked through their fear and denial before reaching out to Alzheimer’s San Diego for help. After the segment aired, Lee started a private Facebook support group for people who are dealing with Alzheimer’s.
Like so much of what Lee does, the Alzheimer’s story was about the miracles that happen when people find hope and comfort in each other. Her job may have changed, but her mission remains the same.
“We have to tell stories that are sad, depressing and tragic, but we also have to find stories that make people smile or make them want to take action,” the 49-year-old Lee said.
“I think being positive just makes me happy. We are on this earth for such a short blip of time, so I feel like while we’re here, it’s important to see the good in people.”
