#MediaMonday – Dave Cherry

Have you ever felt like you needed an advocate?
Today’s #MediaMonday comes from Dave Cherry, who recently joined CBS 5 in Phoenix as the station’s CBS 5 Advocate.  Through his on-air advocacy work in 2011 for his previous station, KPNX-TV, Dave and his team were able to help consumers save more than $1 million.
He certainly has an interesting and well-rounded background.
So Dave, time to share.
What do you want to tell the blogosphere about yourself today?
I was born and raised in Philadelphia and consider myself one of the biggest Philly sports fans around.
My career started off on a different path before a fulfilled my lifelong dream of reporting the news and helping consumers. After graduating from Philadelphia University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting, I went on to earn an MBA in Finance from Temple University, also in Philadelphia.
I also spent 10 years as vice president and director of sales and marketing for two of America’s leading real estate franchise companies – Coldwell Banker and Re/max.  Then it was on to broadcasting.
I began my 17-year news career at WHP-TV in Harrisburg, Pa., as news anchor and reporter, then moved to KOLD-TV in Tucson as the morning news anchor. From Tucson, I went to KRON-TV in San Francisco as a freelance news reporter before moving east to COMCAST in Philadelphia as a general assignment reporter. In the fall of 2003, I moved west and joined KPNX-TV in Phoenix and spent nine years as the station Call for Action Consumer Reporter before joining CBS 5 News as the CBS 5 Advocate in December 2012.
I get a lot of satisfaction from my work advocating for consumers here in the Valley.  Whether you have a dispute with a company or want to learn how to save money or want to keep con artists from ripping you off – my segments each night at 5:20pm can help.  My job is to protect everyday citizens from mistreatment from companies and give them a voice.
I am a vegan and like to eat the amazing vegan food prepared by my lovely wife, Carmen. I’m also a big Bruce Springsteen fan (I’ve seen more than 70 shows!).  He inspired me to learn the guitar. Besides playing many of the Boss’ songs, I write and sing my own songs and have even recorded a CD of original music.
You can follow me on Twitter, @cbs5advocate, or reach me by e-mail at dave.cherry@cbs5az.com.
Photo © CBS5