Sacha Pfeiffer

Sacha Pfeiffer (born September 7, 1971) is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist and radio host. In November 2018, she joined NPR as an investigations correspondent.

Pfeiffer is known for her work with the Spotlight team run by ''The Boston Globe''. She was a member of the group of reporters whose work in exposing the Roman Catholic church's cover-up of clergy sex abuse earned the newspaper the 2003 Pulitzer Prize for Public Service.

Personal life and career

Pfeiffer was born in Columbus, Ohio, the daughter of Janet (née Preskenis) and Richard Pfeiffer. She has a younger sister, Sonya, and a younger brother, Seth. Her father, a former state senator, was the city attorney for Columbus, Ohio, and her mother is a retired teacher. Her mother is of Lithuanian descent. Her grandmother was Alice Preskenis, a devout Catholic, and a lifelong resident of South Boston who spent 40 years working at Pober's Clothing Store, and specialized in dressing children. Her uncle was Ken Preskenis, a well-known figure in South Boston through his involvement in community outreach. Pfeiffer graduated from Bishop Watterson High School.

She left Ohio for college, moving to Boston. She graduated with a B.A. in liberal studies with a double major in English and history and M.A. from Boston University. In 2005, she was named a John S. Knight Journalism Fellow at Stanford University. She started her journalism career at the ''Dedham Times'' in Dedham, Massachusetts. Pfeiffer originally joined ''The Boston Globe'' as a reporter in 1995, left in 2008 to work for WBUR-FM in Boston and NPR, returning to ''The Boston Globe'' in 2014. During her nearly seven years in public radio, Pfeiffer was a local host of ''All Things Considered'' and ''Radio Boston'' at WBUR, as well as a guest host of NPR's nationally syndicated ''On Point'' and '' Here & Now.'' Her on-air work received a National Edward R. Murrow Award for broadcast reporting, as well as numerous other awards.

Pfeiffer wrote at ''The Boston Globe'' about wealth, philanthropy, and nonprofits, and has also covered travel, legal affairs, and the Massachusetts state courts.

She volunteers as an English-as-second-language teacher.

After the Spotlight team published its work, the team created a book about the events. Pfeiffer is a co-author of ''Betrayal: The Crisis in the Catholic Church''.

In November 2018, she joined NPR as an investigations correspondent and an occasional guest host for some of NPR's national shows."Sacha Pfeiffer: Correspondent, Investigations"
''npr.org''. Retrieved 2020-09-01.

Portrayal in media

In the 2015 film ''Spotlight'', Pfeiffer is portrayed by Canadian actress Rachel McAdams. McAdams was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pfeiffer, Sacha
1971 births
American investigative journalists
The Boston Globe people
Boston University College of Arts and Sciences alumni
Writers from Columbus, Ohio
American women journalists
American columnists
American women columnists
Living people
American radio personalities
American people of Lithuanian descent
Journalists from Ohio
21st-century American journalists
20th-century American journalists
21st-century American women writers
20th-century American women writers
NPR personalities