Dustin Dorsey
I grew up in San Jose and loved playing and watching sports. My family bonded over cheering for the Warriors, A's, Sharks and Cowboys. I played all sports growing including swimming, football and basketball to name a few. While I didn't quite have the skills to be a professional athlete, I knew very early on that I wanted to be in the spotlight. From performing made-up routines for my family in the living room, to emceeing my school's talent show as a kindergartner, I never shied away from the stage.
It has been a blessing to be a reporter with ABC7 News since February 2019. It's incredible to see how much happens in news in such a short amount of time.
I was lucky enough to cover the Super Bowl in 2020 when the San Francisco 49ers took on the Kansas City Chiefs. I told everyone that week that my feet never hit the ground, I was simply floating from the excitement of it all.
Life changed a month later when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, however. Covering the important stories of my community never felt more urgent. I recognized then just how big of an impact we can have as journalists while telling the news that people need to know.
I had never been so challenged to do my job, but it helped me clearly understand how and why we were Building a Better Bay Area every day.
I take that mantra very seriously when doing my work whether it be covering the Presidential visits, the devastating storms of 2023 or the daily news that tops the headlines in the South Bay.
I got my first taste of broadcasting at Santa Teresa High School in San Jose. In my senior year, I took journalism to get out of having to take a third year of science. It turned out to be the best thing I ever did. I anchored the Wednesday morning broadcast and realized this is what I wanted to do the rest of my life. I perfected my craft at San Jose State University and began my professional career after my Fall graduation.
I never wanted to leave the Bay Area, this is home. But in this business, I learned if you want to be on TV, you go be on TV. I took that advice to heart and moved to the opposite side of the country to little Wilmington, NC to become a multi-media journalist for WWAY news. I was quickly thrust into the news world where I covered Hurricane Matthew, a Black Panther Party protest, a Donald Trump presidential rally and many more stories that helped me realize I'm not in college anymore. My passion has always been sports and 6 months in I was able to get promoted to the sports director at the station.
Growing up, I always wanted to emulate my broadcasting idol, Rich Eisen, and become a sports anchor. Now just a short time into my career, I was able to live out that dream.
As the sports director, I had the opportunity to cover March Madness, the NCAA baseball regional and even a PGA Tour Championship. I told the small town stories of the athletes in Southeastern North Carolina and watched many head to do great things.
It was a life-changing experience to be able to live life in a different part of the country. But after two years in the South, I was ready to come home. ABC7 allowed me to do just that.
I now get to be in my own backyard telling the stories of my South Bay Community while working alongside the same talented journalists here that I grew up watching. It has been an amazing journey so far, but I always believe the best is yet to come!
Share the stories of the Bay with me on Twitter, Facebook or by e-mail: Dustin.W.Dorsey@abc.com.
Dustin's Stories
Attorney says man shot by ICE in Stanislaus Co. is not gang member, ICE had 'bad information'
The attorney and fiancée of a man shot by ICE agents in Stanislaus County are pushing back on ICE's claims that he is a gang member in El Salvador, slamming federal agents and "horrible, horrible training" for the incident.
Dashcam video shows what led up to ICE shooting after traffic stop in Stanislaus Co.
Dashcam video shows a car, said to have been driven by the suspect, abruptly backing up and then speeding forward.
Man's death from battling e-bike lithium-ion battery fire prompts warning from San Jose Fire Dept.
The man ran out of his bedroom to try to put out the battery fire, but within minutes, he had collapsed and would later die. Firefighters say his death was most likely from toxic smoke inhalation.
More ABC7 viewers share issues with rising mail theft in San Jose communities
Just weeks after we highlighted mail theft in San Jose, a new community is coming forward to share their story. They have been hit five times in about five weeks and one neighbor was scammed out of thousands of dollars because of it.
Santa Cruz Mountain communities woken up to 4.6 earthquake, felt throughout Bay Area
The epicenter was in Brookdale, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. ABC7 Eyewitness News viewers from across the Bay Area felt the shaking and were woken up from the early morning earthquake.
CA snowpack at 18% of historical average after record hot March melts snow early
After a March that felt more like a July, the California Department of Water Resources recorded the second lowest snowpack measurement at Phillip's Station. They measured zero inches of water content and zero inches of depth for zero-percent of average.
California Gaming Assoc. sues over state-proposed restrictions to player-dealer games in card rooms
The California Gaming Association is upping the ante to try to block new rules from the state's justice department by taking the fight from the card room to the courtroom.
Parents furious after San Jose Unified board votes to close 5 elementary schools
Parents packed the school board meeting. The overwhelming majority of them fiercely opposed to the board's decision and feeling like their voices have been ignored. "They're disgusting. This has been an absolutely disgusting process," said Travis Curran, a SJUSD parent.
As TSA employee financial pains continue, Bay Area food pantries step up to help
San Jose's Martha's Kitchen has been providing frozen meals to TSA employees at the San Jose and Monterey airports. "Like anybody else, when their budgets get squeezed, the first thing that falls by the wayside is the food because they don't want to end up losing their place or losing their PG&E," said Bill Lee, executive director of Martha's Kitchen.
San Jose day care co-owner found guilty in 2023 drowning deaths of 2 toddlers
A jury found a San Jose day care co-owner guilty in the 2023 drowning deaths of two toddlers on Tuesday.
