Sally Wiggin

Sarah (Sally) Wiggin is a prominent television news anchor and personality in Pittsburgh.[1]

Sally Wiggin
Born
Kalamazoo, Michigan
EducationUniversity of Alabama
University of Michigan
University of Pittsburgh
OccupationJournalist
Notable creditWTAE-TV
Parent(s)Chadwick and Margaret Wiggin

Early life and education

A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Wiggin and her family moved to Florence, Alabama when she was six years old.[2] She attended Emory University for a year before transferring to the University of Alabama, where she studied East Asian history and graduated Phi Beta Kappa.[2] She earned a master's degree in Asian Studies from the University of Michigan and studied Japanese at the University of Pittsburgh.[1]

Career

She first worked for (then ABC affiliate) WBRC-TV (now a Fox affiliate) in Birmingham, Alabama, where she won Alabama Associated Press Award in 1980 for her feature series "Is Your Marriage on the Rocks?"[1] She also worked as WSGN radio in Birmingham, Alabama, where she shared an RTNDA Edward R. Murrow Award, National Headliners Award, and National Sigma Delta Chi Award for her part in an investigative report on insurance fraud in 1977.[1]

In 1980, she turned down a news anchor job in Atlanta in order to join WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh.[3][4] She then became co-anchor of the weekend news at WTAE-TV in 1981.[1] In November 1986, she was named anchor for the weeknight news.[1][3] In that position, she was part of a successful team with Don Cannon.[5] In 1987, she won the United Press International Best Special Award for her work on The Budd Dwyer Special[3] about Pennsylvania State Treasurer Budd Dwyer's on-air suicide.[1]

Wiggin became a host for the Pittsburgh Steelers pre-game shows in 1993 and continued until December 2017. She also makes regular guest appearances on WDVE morning comedy show. Wiggin's role with WTAE shifted in 2004 when she left the 11 pm news and joined the noon news. She left the 6 pm news in 2008, but did special reports and in-depth interviews for the station. On June 21, 2013, WTAE announced that Wiggin would host "Chronicle" and would step down as the anchor of the Noon broadcast.[6] In 2015, she was part of a team that received a Peabody Award. On November 30, 2018, she retired from WTAE.[7][8][9] Her only marriage, to a minor league baseball player, ended in divorce.

Community service

In 1998 and 1999, Wiggin served on the board of directors of the Women's Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh, one of the first six centers for domestic violence response and prevention that was established in the United States.[10][11][12]

She also served on the boards of the Caring Foundation, Pittsburgh's Parental Stress Center, the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra,[13] and the Pittsburgh Zoo & Aquarium,[14] and has also helped to provide support to, and raise funds for, the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank for more than a decade.[15][16]

In 2022, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh."[17]

References
  1. "Sally Wiggin - Anchor". www.thepittsburghchannel.com. WTAE-TV. June 8, 2009.
  2. Behe, Regis (August 13, 2006). "Unassuming Wiggin reflects on 26 years in Pittsburgh". Pittsburgh Tribune Review.
  3. Staff (October 23, 1991). "Dravecky will speak to SRU's best". New Castle News. Vol. 112, no. 37. New Castle, Pennsylvania. p. 11. Retrieved January 10, 2022 – via Newspaper Archive.
  4. Axelrod, Joshua. "Changing of the Guard." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 9, 2022, p. F1 (subscription required).
  5. Owen, Rob (May 6, 2008). "Out at KDKA, Don Cannon to head west". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  6. Staff (June 21, 2013). "Sally Wiggin Named Host of WTAE Chronicle". Pittsburgh: WTAE-TV. Archived from the original on September 21, 2020. Retrieved January 10, 2022.
  7. "For WTAE's Sally Wiggin, slowing down just isn't in the retirement picture".
  8. Axelrod, "Changing of the Guard," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 9, 2022, p. F1
  9. Sheridan, Patricia. "Simply Sally: At home with retired TV newswoman Sally Wiggin." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 21, 2019, pp. D1 and D5 (subscription required).
  10. "Emcee Sally Wiggin," in "Which of these women will take home the 1998 Athena Award...Find out at the 1998 Athena Awards Luncheon." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, August 28, 1998, p. 128 (subscription required).
  11. "Wiggin to speak at Alice Paul dinner." Indiana, Pennsylvania: The Indiana Gazette, February 25, 1998, p. 10 (subscription required).
  12. "People on the move." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 19, 1999, p. E6 (subscription required).
  13. "Wiggin to speak at Alice Paul dinner," The Indiana Gazette, February 25, 1998, p. 10.
  14. Sheridan, "Simply Sally," Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 21, 2019, pp. D1 and D5.
  15. Reynolds, Jeremy. "Virtual 'Off the Record' features Lange, Martino, Wiggin." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, October 6, 2021, p. C1 (subscription required).
  16. Sheridan Patricia. "Fulfilling." Pittsburgh Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 28, 2022, pp. B1 and B4 (subscription required).
  17. "Nonprofit," in "Dateline Pittsburgh." Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, November 6, 2022, p. E3 (subscription required).
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