Erika Leigh
Erika Leigh (Belezarian) is an American broadcast journalist. She started her career as a writer at FOX61 News in Hartford, Conn. before taking a reporting position at KSFY News in Sioux Falls, South Dakota in 2017. Leigh currently works as a reporter at Spectrum News in Albany, New York.[1]
Life and career[edit]
Leigh grew up as Erika Leigh Belezarian, in Longmeadow, Massachusetts. She was born in Springfield, Mass. and moved to Longmeadow with her parents in 1995. Erika is a 2007 graduate of Longmeadow High School. After graduation she pursued a bachelor's degree in forensic science and psychology. Leigh finished her freshman year at Pennsylvania State University at Schuylkill before transferring to Holyoke Community College. In 2009, Leigh transferred to John Jay College in New York City, where she pursued a forensic psychology degree.
While living in Manhattan, Leigh pursued an acting and singing career in musical theater. She was cast in an off-Broadway production of Sweet Charity as Charity in 2011 and as Maggie in a 2012 off-Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis' Den of Thieves.
Leigh's journalist career began while living in Manhattan in 2009 when she started a personal blog, Shoes, Shirts and Other Sh!t. The blog is now defunct, but in 2012 had more than 50,000 unique visitors each month. She was freelancing for several local news sources and worked for another blogger, The Makeup Girl, covering New York Fashion Week and other key events.
In 2012, Leigh left Manhattan and John Jay College and transferred back to Holyoke Community to pursue a communications degree and graduated with an Associate of Arts in Communication, Media and Theater Arts in 2013. While attending HCC, Leigh worked for the The Republican as a freelance sports writer, covering local high school football, the AHL Springfield Falcons and the D-League Springfield Armor teams. During her time at the paper, Leigh interviewed Olympic medalist Gail Devers in a multi-part feature, as well as Kathrine Switzer, the first woman to run the Boston Marathon. In 2014, Leigh worked for Bruins Daily, helping pilot an online weekly web series about the Boston Bruins. Leigh was the producer and co-host of the series, which lasted two seasons. During this time, Leigh was a regular guest on multiple sports radio stations across New England. After her HCC graduation, Leigh transferred to Westfield State University to finish her Bachelor's in Journalism and graduated cum laude in 2016.
In March 2016, Leigh joined FOX61 News in Hartford, Conn. as a writer and associate producer. In January 2018, Leigh joined KSFY News, an ABC affiliate, in Sioux Falls, S.D. as a multimedia journalist.[2] During her time at the station, Leigh served as a regular fill-in anchor and fill-in sports anchor. She regularly turned investigative stories, including a story about the cost of switching to electronic logs, or e-logs, for truck drivers. The story was re-run on SiriusXM radio's Road Dog Radio, a station for truck drivers, prompting thousands of American truckers to contact their state leadership in Congress and the Senate. A bill was introduced by Texas Rep. Brian Babin[3] The bill eventually stalled, but lawmakers passed a delay for agricultural haulers. Leigh also uncovered cancer-causing radiation in a well being used in the town of Brandon, S.D.. Leigh earned an Upper Midwest Emmy with the KSFY News team in 2018 for her work covering a blizzard in April of that year.[4]
In December 2018, Leigh joined Spectrum News in Albany, N.Y. as a reporter. Spectrum News is a cable news station owned by Charter Cable and is only available for Spectrum subscribers.[5]
Leigh has garnered publication for her work covering #TimesUp legislation at the New York State Capital[6][7] as well as the shooting of former Red Sox slugger David Ortiz in the Dominican Republic.[8]
Awards[edit]
- 2018 Upper Midwest Emmy Award, Weekend Newscast, markets 71-120, April Blizzard
Notes[edit]
- ↑ http://erikaleigh.tv/about. Missing or empty
|title=(help) |title=Erika Leigh}} - ↑ Derrick Santos (January 18, 2017). "Erika Leigh Joins KSFY as Multimedia Journalist". Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ "Babin Introduces Bill to Delay Mandatory Truck Logging Devices". July 19, 2017. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ "KSFY blizzard coverage nominated for Upper Midwest Emmy". September 7, 2018. Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ Spectrum News Staff (April 10, 2019). "Erika Leigh". Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ Raechal Shewfelt (June 12, 2019). "Mira Sorvino reveals that she's a survivor of date rape". Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ Claire Lampen (June 12, 2019). "Cuomo And Time's Up Urge Legislature To End Rape Reporting Statute Of Limitations". Retrieved June 23, 2019.
- ↑ Thomas Carannante (June 10, 2019). "Red Sox Legend David Ortiz Reportedly Hospitalized After Being Shot in Dominican Republic". Retrieved June 23, 2019.
External links[edit]
References[edit]
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