Ralph Penza (November 22, 1932 – February 16, 2007) was a senior correspondent and substitute anchor for
WNBC
WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey–licensed Telemundo stati ...
in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. He first joined WNBC in 1980, left the station in 1995 and rejoined it in October 1997. Among his many honors are six Emmy Awards and two
New York Press Club The New York Press Club, sometimes ''NYPC'', is a private nonprofit membership organization which promotes journalism in the New York City metropolitan area. It is unaffiliated with any government organization and abstains from politics. While the c ...
''Gold Typewriter'' awards. He is credited by peers within the journalism community with introducing the 'walking head shot' whereby the reporter literally walked the audience through the scene of the crime, event, etc. The technique has been widely emulated and is currently taught at Columbia University and NYU.
Penza had done reporting in
Coatesville, Pennsylvania
Coatesville is a city in Chester County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 13,350 at the 2020 census. Coatesville is approximately 39 miles west of Philadelphia. It developed along the Philadelphia and Lancaster Turnpike beginning ...
and
Waterloo, Iowa
Waterloo is a city in and the county seat of Black Hawk County, Iowa, United States. As of the 2020 United States Census the population was 67,314, making it the eighth-largest city in the state. The city is part of the Waterloo – Cedar Falls ...
. Prior to joining WNBC, Penza worked as news director at WSAV-TV in
Savannah, Georgia, anchor and reporter at
WDVM in
Washington, D.C.
)
, image_skyline =
, image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...
, an anchor at
WCAU
WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jer ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...
, a producer, reporter and anchor at
WCBS, and a producer at
WABC.
While in high school Penza served as a copy boy for
Walter Winchell
Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and co ...
. Penza graduated from
New York University
New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin.
In 1832, th ...
, where he was a member of
Alpha Phi Delta
Alpha Phi Delta (), commonly referred to as APD, is a Greek social fraternity that evolved from an exclusive Italian society, initially known as ''Il Circolo Italiano'' ("The Italian circle"), established at Syracuse University in 1914. Founding
...
, with a bachelor's degree in radio and television. Previous to that he had graduated from
Valley Stream Central High School
Valley Stream Central High School is a public senior high school (grades 10–12) in the village of Valley Stream, New York on the South Shore of Nassau County. It is part of the Valley Stream Central High School District. Dr. Joseph Pompillo ha ...
in
Valley Stream
Valley Stream is a village in Nassau County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population in the Village of Valley Stream was 37,511 at the 2010 census.
The incorporated Village of Valley Stream is within the Town of Hempstead, ...
, New York. He lived most of his adult life in
Malverne, immediately adjacent to his boyhood hometown in Valley Stream.
In February 1998, while covering
Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
's trip to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, Penza located
Joanne Chesimard, who was convicted of killing
New Jersey state trooper Werner Foerster 24 years earlier. She was sentenced to life in prison but escaped in 1979 and fled to Cuba for
political asylum
The right of asylum (sometimes called right of political asylum; ) is an ancient juridical concept, under which people persecuted by their own rulers might be protected by another sovereign authority, like a second country or another ent ...
. She spoke to Penza in an interview where she maintained her innocence and recounted the night of the shooting. Penza's coverage of the Pope's visit to the
Holy Land earned him an
Emmy Award in 2000.
Personal life and death
Penza died from an undisclosed illness at the age of 74 in 2007. He was survived by his wife Lucille and two children. Penza's daughter Christina was an Emmy Award-winning television producer in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
(
KNBC, a reporter at Los Angeles station
UPN
The United Paramount Network (UPN) was an American broadcast television network that launched on January 16, 1995. It was originally owned by Chris-Craft Industries' United Television. Viacom (through its Paramount Television unit, which pr ...
13, and a general and investigative reporter at
Las Vegas
Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...
KLAS and
Fort Myers, Florida WINK-TV
WINK-TV (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Fort Myers, Florida, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for Southwest Florida. It is owned by the McBride family and their Fort Myers Broadcasting Company, making it one of a han ...
television stations. She currently is the CEO of Los Angeles-based Attorneys Edge, a production company that uses digital video to recreate visual evidence for court trials. His son Ralph Scott is an audiobook producer and narrator who records audiobooks along with his wife Kendra and produces serialized audio drama in the
San Francisco Bay area. The two have won multiple awards for their work in audio drama.
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Penza, Ralph
1932 births
2007 deaths
American male journalists
People from Malverne, New York
American television journalists
Television anchors from New York City
New York (state) television reporters
New York University alumni
Television anchors from Philadelphia
Television anchors from Washington, D.C.
American people of Italian descent
People from Valley Stream, New York
Valley Stream Central High School alumni