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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

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

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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

* {{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