Hello! My name is Penny, or @Pennylikeacoin, a Cleveland native with a love of storytelling, sports, and a good Sunday brunch.

But aside from mimosas, my professional passions lay in real-time breaking news with a community-based approach. In my current capacity as the morning show reporter at WTKR News 3, I am the trusted reporter to go on-scene and report unscripted in the midst of any major event. This has taken me to several events that later gained national attention, including the Chesapeake Walmart mass shooting and the incident at Richneck Elementary school involving a first grader shooting his teacher. While challenging, I strive to go beyond the headlines by speaking with real people, listening to their concerns, and finding solutions.

While the urgency of breaking news undoubtedly excites me, I am also been fortunate to produce several long-form pieces that take a closer look into issues plaguing our communities. Whether assigned or pitched, I feel privileged to have been trusted with these important and impactful stories, such as my look into the realities of being a Transgender service member. I take great pride in building connections with my sources; I do this by following up with them consistently, rather than only interviewing them when the day turn requires it. I recently produced a story commemorating the 1-year anniversary of Russia's war on Ukraine, which would not have been possible if I did not spend 365 days building trust with a local Ukrainian woman I interviewed when the war began.

When I am not out in the community, I am also filling in on the News 3 anchor desk! I've been privileged to fill in on every show WTKR has to offer. This includes a 4-hour-long morning show, our primetime evening newscasts, and both weekend mornings and nights. I love any opportunity to speak with our audience in a way that is conversational, energetic, and informative.

And as we all know: the news industry is changing. But that doesn't mean journalism has to. At WTKR, I have spearheaded several initiatives and worked with management to enhance our digital presence. After conducting years of private research to build my own social media platform, I have experimented with ways to bring those skills into the newsroom by creating videos that are both palletable and integral and lead back to the station's website. During a man overboard situation aboard Carnival Cruise Lines in Spring 2023, I created a digital video while live on-scene that garnered millions of views across platforms and increased WTKR's website traffic by 32% in a single day. I have really found excitement in discovering methods to strike the delicate balance between entertainment and hard-hitting news when creating content for platforms like Tik Tok. So much so, I hosted a three-day training course to educate my colleagues on how to create news content fit for the digital world. The training has given my fellow reporters, anchors, producers, and others the skills to produce informative and memorable social content that enhances the News 3 brand.

Other experiences of mine include working in a similar capacity at KFDA in Amarillo, Texas where I served as a morning show reporter, fill-in anchor, and lifestyle show host. I also have experience in the sports industry, working as the NCAA sideline reporter for American University's D1 women's and men's basketball teams and writing for NBC Sports Washington. Within these roles, I expanded my storytelling abilities, mastered the art of real-time live reporting, refined my unique writing style for news, and expanded my social media management capabilities.

I additionally have obtained two B.A.s in both Broadcast Journalism and American Studies from American University, helping further develop my passion for media's influence on domestic culture and policy.

Take a copy of my resume!