Pat Harvey
Pat Harvey is the anchor of the KCAL News 5 p.m., 6 p.m., 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. broadcasts.
She is the longest-running anchor in prime-time news, joining KCAL in 1989. After an impressive 20-year tenure at the station, she made the transition to KCBS, where she played a pivotal role as one of the original anchors for the nation's first nightly three-hour newscast.
Harvey began her career in Saginaw, Michigan at WNEM-TV as a general assignment reporter and later produced and anchored the station's 6 and 11 pm newscasts. In 1981, Harvey helped launch CNN Headline News and a year later was named co-anchor of CNN's Daybreak program.
Before joining KCAL, Pat was an anchor and reporter for Chicago's superstation WGN-TV. There, her series of investigative reports on faulty pap smears led to new health legislation in Illinois shut down a lab responsible for many of those defective smears in Tarzana, California. She was also named to the Governor's Task Force on Education.
With a rich career spanning various continents, she has covered major local news events, political conventions, presidential inaugurations, and international stories, from the Presidential Inauguration of George H.W. Bush to the OJ Simpson trial, when she was the first journalist to interview dismissed juror, Jeanette Harris.
Her reporting took her to El Salvador during the civil war, Eastern Africa and Russia during the AIDS epidemic and South Africa for the historic first all-race elections. She was also live from Vatican City for the installation of Pope Benedict XVI.
Throughout her career, Pat has conducted interviews with prominent figures such as Ferdinand Marcos, Bishop Desmond Tutu, F.W. De Klerk, Gerry Adams, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Presidents H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter, Nelson Mandela, Barack Obama, and Al Gore. She also played a significant role in covering the O.J. Simpson trial. In 2019, Pat Harvey interviewed Grammy award-winning rap artist Nipsey Hussle, just a month before his tragic passing. She also reported on the Los Angeles riots in 1992 and again in 2020 following the death of George Floyd.
Pat Harvey's exceptional broadcast career has earned her 27 Emmy Awards, including three for Best Newscast. She is the recipient of two other lifetime achievement awards, which include the LA Press Club's Joseph M. Quinn Award and the Golden Mike from the Radio & Television News Association. In 2023, Pat was awarded the Pioneer Award for African American Achievement by the Brotherhood Crusade.
To honor her two decades of dedication to KCAL and her contributions to the Southern California community, both the Los Angeles City Council and LA County Board of Supervisors proclaimed October 30th, 2009, as "Pat Harvey Day."
In 2012, Harvey was inducted into the National Black Journalists Hall of Fame in Washington, DC.
In 2015, she was awarded the prestigious LA Area Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in 2015 for her body of work at CBS2/KCAL9 and philanthropic work in the community.
Pat has dedicated her career to community service, advocating for children, education, the special needs community, breast cancer and victims of domestic violence. She is the recipient of two honorary doctorate degrees in the Humanities from American Intercontinental University and Mt. St. Mary's University in Brentwood, California. She was also awarded the NAACP's Ida B. Wells Award and the Silver Star Award from the YMCA.
In addition to her anchoring duties, Harvey has appeared nationally as a guest co-host on the CBS Television Network daytime show, The Talk.
Fun facts:
- Pat was one of several local personalities to carry the Olympic torch through LA in 2002 and sang the national anthem with her daughter in Dodgers Stadium.
- Pat has sung with such musical legends as Stevie Wonder, Barry Gordy and Smokey Robinson!
Follow Pat on social media:
- Facebook: Pat Harvey
- Twitter: @Patharveynews
- Instagram: @patharveynews
