[1] At age 11, Ushery was selected from a statewide search to host the local edition of "Kidsworld," a nationally syndicated television show.
One of his early interviews was with the late Walter Cronkite, the former CBS News anchor once ranked as the most trusted man in America.
While at the university he was a staff writer for the Hartford Courant newspaper,[2][3] where he honed his skills for covering local politics and events.
[citation needed] As the lead reporter for WFSB's 11 pm broadcast, Ushery covered many stories impacting the everyday lives of the citizens of Connecticut's capital city.
But one of these stories made an indelible impression on Ushery: the night he and his photographer spent with residents of New Britain who were being terrorized by arsonists.
In 1993, at the age of 25, Ushery was recruited by WABC-TV in New York City to join its staff as a general assignment reporter, covering news for the number one station in the top market in the nation.
He was on the team of reporters for WABC's extended coverage of the celebrations for the Yankees World Series wins and the installation of Edward Cardinal Egan to lead New York City's Archdiocese.
These simultaneous appointments made Ushery in effect "the face" of WNBC during the weekend, anchoring all the station's morning and evening newscasts on Saturday and Sunday.
In 2006, Ushery was named co-anchor of WNBC's iconic "Live at 5" program, alongside legendary anchor Sue Simmons.
One year earlier, Ushery traveled to Israel to cover President Trump's visit to the Holy Land before quickly shifting his live reports to England, following the tragic bombing outside the Manchester sports arena.
He also provided live coverage following the Sandy Hook elementary school shooting in 2012, the miraculous emergency landing of US Airways Flight 1549 in the Hudson River in 2009 as well as multiple presidential elections.
In "The Debrief," Ushery doesn't sit behind an anchor desk but rather moves freely around the News 4 newsroom, giving viewers a behind-the-scenes look at the operation.
In 2010, after a "Debrief" segment featuring blogging New York City mothers, Ushery developed and launched a spin-off program.
NBCUniversal announced Ushery as the anchor of WNBC's 4 and 11 pm newscasts beginning in October 2020, as incumbent Stefan Holt returns to the company's Chicago station.
In 1999, The Network Journal, the Black Professionals and Small Business Magazine, named Ushery as one of its "40 Under-Forty" for his significant accomplishments.