Robinson native Lauren Talotta joining WPXI as a freelance reporter
Country roads ultimately took Lauren Talotta back to where she belongs. In this case, though, it wasn’t West Virginia.
The 34-year-old Robinson native spent the past decade working at two stations in the Mountain State before recently accepting a position as a freelance reporter at WPXI-TV. Her first day at Channel 11 will be Monday, and viewers will begin seeing her pop up on various WPXI shows in early July.
Talotta, a Montour High School and University of Pittsburgh graduate, drew some interest from stations in Charlotte, N.C., and Columbus, Ohio, while trying to figure out her next professional steps. The chance to report in her hometown, even in a freelance capacity, proved to be too enticing to turn down.
“I’ve always kept an open mind when considering my next move,” she told the Post-Gazette. “But in my heart, I knew where I wanted to be. When the opportunity came calling, I knew I wanted to take it.”
As Talotta put it, her family’s “roots run deep in Pittsburgh.” Her grandparents owned Talotta’s restaurant in Carnegie, which operated for 75 years before closing in 2014. Even while working in West Virginia, she returned to Western Pennsylvania as often as her schedule permitted to spend time with family, especially her young niece and nephew.
Broadcast journalism called to Talotta early. As a kid, she would sneak downstairs and hope her parents didn’t notice her watching the 11 p.m. news behind them. She was heavily involved with her high school newspaper and shadowed former KDKA-TV anchors Sonni
Abatta and Keith Jones as part of her senior project. Talotta graduated from Pitt with a degree in media and professional communications in 2010.
Her TV career began in 2012 at WBOY-TV in Clarksburg, W.Va., where she started as a producer before earning her way to the morning anchor desk. In 2018, she left Clarksburg to become a reporter at WCHS-TV in Charleston, W.Va. Talotta earned a spot as noon anchor at WCHS and also worked the station’s live desk.
After a decade covering West Virginia, certain stories stick out to Talotta. In addition to all the human interest pieces she did, she also covered two years of the state’s massive teachers’ strike and the aftermath of the 2012 derecho that left 670,000 West Virginians without power. In 2016, she felt the need to take off her journalism hat and drive down to Rainelle, W.Va., to help victims of a devastating flood.
Talotta was never afraid to show off her Pittsburgh pride even while behind enemy territory. She sometimes “endured some negativity” while, say, wearing her Pitt gear to the gym, but “it was worth it to represent my city and my college,” she said. The return of the Backyard Brawl football game between Pitt and West Virginia University after 11 years also got Talotta excited to move home.
WPXI has gone through multiple personnel changes over the past few weeks. Channel 11 recently lost reporter Mike Holden to WEWS-TV in Cleveland and weekend morning anchor Joe Arena to News 12 Long Island. Talotta is joining a reporter roster that also last month added Hopewell
native Rich Pierce out of WTOV-TV in Steubenville, Ohio.
Though she has no problems starting out as a freelancer, her goals are to stick around in Pittsburgh and eventually become a fulltime reporter.
“The people in West Virginia were amazing,” she said. “But that chapter of my life has closed, and I am ready to fully embrace the life I have waiting for me in Western Pennsylvania. ... I’m just so excited to eventually plant roots in Pittsburgh and make that my home for the future.”
She thanked WPXI management for taking a chance on her and said she has been “blown away already by the hard work and talent” her new colleagues display on a daily basis. She can’t wait to “get out in the communities and tell people’s stories.”
“I hope people welcome me with open arms,” Talotta said. “I can’t wait to hit the ground running and get to meet as many people as possible. I just feel so blessed to be back in my hometown and I’m honored to work for the people of Pittsburgh.”