Phillip Bell
At-Large Executive Committee Member
Phil’s career in the television industry has included a variety of assignments as a news anchor, reporter, producer and manager for major network affiliates in Tennessee, Florida, Illinois and Iowa.
As a reporter and news producer for two decades, Phil covered many nationally significant stories: the first space shuttle launch; the Cuban refugee flotilla from Mariel Harbor; and Hurricane Hugo as it struck Charleston, South Carolina. Phil has also extensively reported on Tennessee’s political scene and on the state correctional system. He organized and produced NewsChannel 5’s award winning election coverage for more than eight years.
In September 1996, Phil was named as founding director of Nashville’s first local all news cable channel – NewsChannel 5+. He brought a wealth of experience as a broadcast journalist and extensive first -hand knowledge of the Nashville market to the job, including more than five years as Executive Producer of News at Nashville’s CBS affiliate, WTVF/NewsChannel 5 Network. He was also the Executive Producer of the popular and highly rated Talk of the Town program on WTVF/NewsChannel 5.
Phil joined Earnhardt Pirkle in 2004, where he produced documentaries, specials, and corporate videos. He now devotes full time to his own company, BellMedia, which he opened in 2002, where he produced a two-day pay-per view special for DirecTV.
The awards Phil has received include the National Cable Ace Award; four Emmy® Awards; Society of Professional Journalists – 1st Place Documentary award; Unity in Media Award from the Lincoln University of Missouri; and the National Coalition of Communities for Justice’s Jerry Thompson Communicator Award.
Phil is past president of NATAS Nashville/Midsouth. As National Trustee, he was elected to the Nominating Committee in 2001, appointed to the Constitutional Review Committee, elected to the National Awards Committee for 2006-08, and appointed to the National Rules Committee in 2011.
Phil has served on the advisory board to the Department of Communications at the University of Tennessee at Martin, and the board of the Society of Professional Journalists Mid-South Chapter. He currently serves on the History Project Committee of the Brooks Fund of the Community Foundation, on the board of the American Civil Liberties Union-Tennessee, and on the board of their foundation.
