Julie Watts Bio, Age, Height, CBS13 News, Net Worth, Salary, Parents, and Husband

Julie Watts Bio, Wiki

Julie Watts is an American national-award-winning investigative journalist working for CBS13 News serving the station as an investigative reporter. She has been working with this station since 2009. 

Julie Watts Age

Watts is 49 years old as of 2022. She was born in 1973 in the Bay area in the United States. She manages to keep information regarding her month of birth away from the limelight. An update of her age will be done once she has made the information public.

Julie Watts Height

Watts stands at an approximate height of 5 feet 6 inches.

Julie Watts Education

Watts was born and raised in the Bay Area but met and married her husband while working in Sacramento the first time around. After nearly a decade in San Francisco, they were thrilled to return to the Sacramento area in 2019 to raise their family. She earned a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism and an M.A. in Online Journalism from the University of Southern California. At her USC commencement ceremony, she was named Graduate Student of the Year.

Photo of Julie Watts
Photo of Julie Watts

Julie Watts Career

Watts is a national investigative journalist who is dedicated to digging deeper into the issues that matter to you, getting answers, and holding the powerful accountable. Her work has prompted laws to protect families and taxpayers, federal investigations, and FDA recalls state. Additionally, Watts is a Meteorologist (AMS) and News Anchor at CBS Sacramento.

Julie Watts Award-Winning Work

She has won 13 Emmy Awards and has also been honored with numerous prestigious national awards such as many National Press Club, National Headliner, and Gracie awards, and a Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi award.

Lately, Watts was honored with an Emmy Award for THE COVID LAB: State Secrets Exposed and a National Press Club Award.  The whistleblowers prompted the 14-month investigation inside California’s $1.7B COVID testing lab. The reporting led to two new pieces of legislation, state, and federal investigations, and shined a spotlight on shocking public health failures that it appeared state regulators tried to hide.

She received an Emmy Award for her investigation into “State-Sponsored Identity Theft” in 2021. The state’s unemployment agency (EDD) is accountable for putting millions at risk of identity theft was held by the five-year investigation. The reporting prompted a state audit, a joint legislative hearing, and a new law.

While working at CBS in San Francisco she revealed the issue and was honored before with an  Edward R. Murrow Award for her early reporting on the issue. In 2020 Watts was also the recipient of an Emmy Award and an Edward R. Murrow Award for her reporting on a National Headliner Award for her investigation into the financial impact of new cell towers near schools and the California Highway Patrol’s failure to respond to DUI 911 calls.

Julie received an Emmy Award for “Troubling Water: The Ripon Child Cancer Investigation” in 2020.  Parents initially blamed a cell tower on campus after four children were diagnosed with cancer at one school. Then, the CBS13 investigation revealed a history of cancer-causing chemicals in the city’s water, omissions in city water reports, and exposed glaring errors, and exposed that the school district knew about the chemicals in school drinking water but failed to tell parents.

Her “Toxic Safety” investigation into car seat flame retardants was one of Watts’s most notable series which prompted many recalls and led to significant changes within the child car seat industry. The investigation was honored with the Society of Professional Journalists Sigma Delta Chi Award for Public Service, the National Press Club’s Award for Consumer Journalism, and the National Gracie Award for Best Investigative Feature.

Watts also won a National Headliner Award for her child ID theft investigation, “Toddler Has a Credit Card” and a National Gracie Award for her investigation into California’s Newborn DNA Database. In 2016, the investigation also prompted a new state law. 

The investigative series “UN-Covered California”  earned Watts her first National Press Club Award for Consumer Journalism in 2014. The reports revealed prompted action by state regulators and changes within the insurance industry and many flaws within California’s health insurance exchange.

Julie Watts History

She spent a year at CBS in San Francisco as a contributing correspondent for CBS News where her stories were distributed to CBS stations across the country and the station’s Consumer-Investigative Reporter before being an investigative reporter/anchor at CBS in Sacramento.

At KPIX she worked as a news anchor and Meteorologist (AMS). She won the American Meteorological Society’s prestigious award for “Excellence in Science Reporting by a Broadcast Meteorologist” while at KPIX and the  Associated Press named her Best News Anchor for her role as anchor and host of the KPIX weekend morning show.

Before that, she worked at KCRA 3 in Sacramento where she achieved her meteorology credentials (AMS Seal) from the American Meteorological Society. In addition to weekend weather, she reported  everything from cooking segments to creepy critters while hosting the “KCRA Noon Show Live from the Arden Fair Mall.”

Nationally, she was an entertainment reporter/producer for BBC & Reuters-TV in Los Angeles and also appeared as a host on TLC’s “Designing Spaces”. Watts started her news career as a Reporter for CBS-47 in Fresno, a Traffic Anchor, and Weather Anchor.

Julie Watts Off Air

While traveling overseas Watts edits, shoots, and produces special projects. She has been to Sierra Leone to India and has also won several awards for her work as a Multi-Media/Video Journalist (MMJ/VJ). She is active in several non-profits and has spent more than a decade on the Board of Governors for the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS).

Watts has also produced and planned five Emmy Awards galas over the past 10 years, like the first-ever virtual Emmy Awards ceremony in 2020, which was used as a template for other NATAS regional ceremonies throughout the pandemic. She oversaw the regional Emmy Awards competition for several years.

Julie Watts News Mom

When Watts is not working, she’s “investigative moming” online. She is the founder of NewsMom.com and also a mother of two (three if you count her dog-ter). At News Mom, she shares how she’s using the knowledge and resources she’s developed as an investigative reporter to navigate life as a mom. She prides herself on investigating the topics and products that most moms would investigate… if they had the investigative resources through a combination of #NewsYouCanUse on Facebook, and #MomLife posts on Instagram.

Her ideal scenario for a day off is Deep-diving into a pile of documents searching for that needle in the haystack for her latest investigation… WHILE enjoying a sunny day by the pool or at the park with her hubby and kids. Or….. Sleeping in and snuggling with her hubby & the kids, then church, a family lunch, and a playdate with friends. Tv was her favorite toy growing up. Being a reporter and anchor is all she’s ever wanted to do. Watts began “anchoring” the morning announcements in secondary school, then earned her BA in Broadcast Journalism and her MA in Online Journalism at USC.

Her favorite social media platform is Facebook where she has two pages for her two respective worlds. @JulieWattsTV is her official reporter page where she shares CBS investigations and career-related posts. @NewsMomDotCom is her alter ego where she focuses on “investigative parenting” and shares research & links that are relevant to families (along with the occasional mommy meme from her life as #NewsMom).

She would probably be a lawyer if she didn’t work in TV news or would be running an investigative journalism non-profit that focuses on topics related to protecting families and kids. She loves Northern California because it’s home. You can’t beat the weather. And, she’s a Nor Cal Girl, born and raised. The fellow reporter/anchor she texts the most is in his name (and he’s been a close friend of her’s for years).

Our “Toxic Safety” investigation into car seat flame retardants and our “Toddler Has a Credit Card” investigation into Child Credit Freezes are two of her favorite stories she’s covered at CBS13/CW31. Each prompted new legislation and had a lasting impact on their respective industries. She’s also very proud of our “UN-Covered California” investigation, which revealed many flaws in California’s health insurance exchange, and our “California Confidential” investigation, which revealed how the state’s largest agency is putting millions at risk of ID theft. Each of those investigations forced action by state regulators and prompted significant changes.

Her favorite season is Fall she loves the weather, the colors, and the kick-off of the holiday season. Her Favorite sport to watch in person is Football, both in person and on TV. She grew up in the Bay, so the 9ers will always be her team… but her hubby is originally from Chicago so the Bears are a family fave. Her Favorite TV show and  Movie is Disney. The Zombie Movies, Descendants, and random kids’ Netflix shows are always on in my house. After the kids go to bed, we’ve been binging Hulu min-docs & scripted shows based on news. Watts loved The Drop Out, which was based on the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos scandal because there was a lot of crossover into her recent investigation into California’s $1.7B troubled COVID testing lab.

Julie Watts CBS13 News

Watts works at CBS13 News where she works alongside her fellow anchors, reporters, and meteorologists such as;

  1. Elizabeth Klinge
  2. Marlee Ginter
  3. John Dabkovich
  4. Jordan Segundo
  5. Dina Kupfer
  6. Adrienne Moore
  7. Tony Lopez
  8. Kurtis Ming
  9. Steve Large
  10. Tracy Humphrey
  11. Darla Givens
  12. Sara Hodges

Julie Watts’s Net Worth

In Watts’s career as an investigative reporter, she has been able to accumulate a net worth ranging between $1 Million and $3 Million.

Julie Watts Salary

She receives annual earnings that range between $35,000 and $100,000.

Julie Watts Parents and Siblings

Born and raised in the United States, Watts manages to keep information regarding her parents and whether or not she has any siblings away from the limelight. An update of her family information will be done when available.

Julie Watts’s Husband/ Spouse

Watts is a married woman and a mother too. She married her longtime boyfriend, whom she met while working in Sacramento the first time around. She grew up in San Jose (but she met and married my husband in Sac, moved back to the Bay for 10 years, and now they’ve returned to raise our family here). Watts manages to keep her husband’s name private.

Julie Watts’s Kids

Watts and her husband have two kids and her Dog-ter, Allie is her firstborn. She’s a 13-year-old Bichon Frise – Poodle mix (whom my kids refer to as their sister).

Julie Watts’s Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram

She is vocal on her social media accounts where she posts frequently. On her Twitter account, she has about 1,723 followers, around 2.8k followers on her Facebook page, and about 690 followers on her Instagram account.