The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia

Monica Malpass
Action News, WPVI-TV
2005

Monica Malpass began her career in North Carolina first as a reporter for the Daily Tarheel in 1980. Then she became an anchor/reporter for WCHL-AM in Chapel Hill. Following that she was a writer at WFMY-TV in Greensboro, then went on to become the weekend anchor and reporter at WXII-TV in Winston-Salem.

Monica joined WPVI-TV in 1988 as the solo morning anchor of two 15-minute newscasts. In just 2 years, the program grew to become a 1/2-hour newscast, then a 1-hour newscast, then a 2-hour newscast. As the local audience exploded, WPVI-TV's morning newscast with Monica Malpass, Rick Williams and Cecily Tynan, became the #1 rated local news program in America, surpassing larger stations in New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Then in 2004 Monica was named co-anchor of Action News at 5p.m.; she also anchors the award-winning political discussion program Inside Story, she authors’ 6ABC ’s political podcasts and moderates political debates.

Monica received a Master of Arts degree in Political Science from Villanova University in 1999. She received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Journalism from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1983, was a Rotary Scholar to the University of Puerto Rico in 1984, and has an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from Neumann College. She graduated from the Brookings Institution's "Inside Washington" program and was also a member of the World Affairs Council.

Monica’s national and international assignments include coverage of the Inaugurations of Presidents Bush and Clinton, the plane crash of John F. Kennedy Jr., the funeral of Princess Diana, and the Eagles’ Superbowl game in 2005. She also conducted several exclusive interviews with Oprah, Former Secretary of State Colin Powell, New York Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, Pennsylvania Governors Ed Rendell and Tom Ridge, Pennsylvania Senators Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, and His Royal Highness Prince Albert of Monaco, among others.

Her awards include the 2004 Ethos Award for Character from the Villanova University Honor Society; the Society of Professional Journalists 2003 1st place award for Best Children’s Series, and the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters 2003 1st place award for Best Children’s Program. In 2000, she won the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Judge's Merit Award and first place for Best TV News Story, plus the award for TV Arts & Culture Reporting from the Society of Professional Journalists. She was also given the Villanova University Graduate Alumni Society's Founder's Award in 2000. She was named Best Female Newscaster by the Main Line Today Magazine and won the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters Judge's Merit Award in 1999. She won a 1st place award for Spot News from the Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters and was named Women In Communications Broadcaster of the Year in 1998. She was also listed on the Pennsylvania Honor Roll of Women in 1996 .

Monica served on the boards of directors at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, the Children's Seashore House, and was a member of the Union League of Philadelphia. She is active with the William Penn Charter School, the American Heart Association, and is a spokesperson for the Philadelphia Free Library. Malpass also performs 50 charity events per year for numerous groups across the Delaware and Lehigh Valleys.

She is the mother of Jake (born in 2000), her pride and joy. On Friday, November 17, 2006, Monica Malpass was inducted into "The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia's Hall of Fame."

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com