Remembering Hampton Roads Media Professional Byron Burney

Media professional Byron Keith Burney of Hampton Roads, Virginia passedaway Friday, February 21, 2020.

Born Dec. 11, 1958, Byron grew up in Norfolk’s old Liberty Parkneighborhood. He ran track, was on the basketball team and played footballas both an offensive and defensive starter.

A graduate of Lake Taylor High School (Class of 1981) in Norfolk, Byronwent from delivering newspapers part time employee, to being a part of ateam that made the news happen. Byron studied at Hampton University (thenthe Hampton Institute) where he received a Bachelors of Arts in MassCommunication. As a student he learned a lot about filming and media andacquired the skills that would eventually help propel him throughout hiscareer. While hanging around one day at the departmental office of hisuniversity, the phone rang. A local TV station was looking for a studentto do some part-time work.

“I was the only one in the office and I jumped right on that,” Byron saidthen. “I was the envy of everyone.” He got his foot in the door at WVECchannel 13 and made a career out of it.

Byron worked for nearly 30 years at WVEC TV, advancing in the ranks andpositions during that period. He went from photographer to chiefphotographer to operations manager over the course of his time there,saying that his experience at the station was invaluable.Byron was a member of the National Association of Black Journalists and apast president of the Hampton Roads Black Media Professionalsorganization. Before he passed, he was employed with iSoft at Fort Eustis,Virginia, as an audio-visual specialist. He was a devoted deacon andmusician at First Baptist Church East End and a proud brother of Omega PsiPhi Fraternity, Incorporated. “Byron was one of my mentors in HRBMP when Iwas sophomore at NSU majoring in Mass Comm. He helped me get my first jobat WVEC,” said Eric Harrell, State Director of Marketing & Communicationsat Bryant & Stratton College.

On Friday, February 28, First Baptist Church East End held a Celebrationof Life in remembrance of Deacon Byron Keith Burney, the things heaccomplished, and the lives he touched along the way.