It’s a long journey from being a staff writer for The Pel Mel and sitting as the anchor on a news desk, but that’s exactly the trip that alumna, Sabrina Maggiore, Class of ’16, has taken. She is currently a multimedia journalist for WTVC NewsChannel 9 in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

After graduating from Syracuse University with degrees in Broadcast Journalism, Spanish, and Political Science, Maggiore embarked on her career with NewsChannel 9 almost instantly.

During her time at Syracuse, she held multiple internships. Maggiore interned with CBS This Morning and WNET’S MetroFocus in New York City, while also acting as an investigative intern for NBC6 in Miami, Florida.

Before she joined NewChannel 9 Maggiore worked as a part-time reporter with WROC in Rochester when completing her college degree. As a successful young woman in the field of journalism, Maggiore has become a role model for future students who are curious about being a reporter.

Interestingly enough, Maggiore was able to reach her success during a time in the era of “Fake News,” where some political factions worked to undermine the validity of investigative reporting by questioning the veracity of both the reporting and the reporters. Maggiore found this to be a challenge, as the focus of some political agenda’s was on disseminating misinformation and getting the public to trust “alternative facts” instead. The general public is often unable to determine if a news story is credible and its sources are reliable. Maggiore tries to address this in her own way.

“I try to be very transparent in my reporting. I explain where I am getting my information, how I requested a specific document, why that document is relevant, and how and why an interview source is relevant and qualified to discuss any given topic. Also, throughout the day, on my social media pages, I try to bring viewers with me as I gather the elements of my story. I basically try to give viewers a behind the scenes look at how the story comes together with the hope that by seeing a story get produced from start to finish, viewers have trust in the final result.”

Since Maggiore joined NewsChannel 9 during the pandemic, she faced some unique obstacles. With COVID-19 the NewsChannel 9 team had to adapt the ways they gathered news. Instead of face-to-face interviews, the team found themselves recording Zoom conversations with their sources to be incorporated into their broadcasts. However, Maggiore is very grateful to have found a job during these tough times.

“I feel so fortunate to have gotten a job during a time when so many people were being laid off and companies were implementing hiring freezes.  I’ve wanted to be a news reporter since I was 8 years old, so it’s a real blessing to be employed and working as a journalist today.”

Sabrina’s intent is to pursue stories that can potentially impact the community she serves, and one day hopes to to work in an investigative unit as a broadcast journalist.

As a PMHS alumni, Maggiore knows about the multiple opportunities students have to learn about the world of journalism.

Maggiore advises anyone interested in journalism to “get your feet wet and give it a shot now.”

“I can see clearly how my time at PMHS helped me get to where I am today. I gave both broadcast and print journalism a shot in high school, and it’s during that time that I feel I really caught the journalism bug.”