Chris Petersen joined the WXII 12 News team in October 1997 after graduating from Appalachian State University. Petersen started his career behind the scenes editing newscasts and eventually became a photojournalist. Over the course of the past 26 years, Petersen has covered news and sports at WXII 12 News. His first big breaking news event was the pedestrian bridge collapse at Charlotte Motor Speedway in 2000.

Petersen would go on to cover National events such as the arrest of Eric Rudolph (the Olympic Park Bomber) in 2003 and the search for Jennifer Short in Rockingham County. Petersen has also covered major sporting events such as the Panthers in Super Bowl 50, nearly 20 ACC basketball championships and UNC winning the Final Four in Phoenix in 2017. Nothing compares to covering his beloved ASU Mountaineers in two of their three National Championships in football.

Now Petersen is reporting local news, sharing the stories of the Triad, plus reporting our Game of the Week for High School Playbook and still covering his beloved ASU Mountaineers.

Petersen lives in Davidson County with his wife of 20 years, two children and their Golden Retriever Cosmo.