Brenda Waters is leaving KDKA on a “positive” note.
After more than 35 years as anchor and reporter in the Pittsburgh TV news market, Ms. Waters will be on air one last time Friday.
The woman who won a regional Emmy for “On a Positive Note” — a feel-good segment that was recently resurrected by the station — retires with a wealth of good wishes from the people she’s worked with over the years. She’s also been recognized for her many contributions to area organizations, from the Girl Scouts of Southwestern Pennsylvania to Ebenezer Baptist Church in the Hill. Ms. Waters also won Associated Press awards.
“I’ve been crying for two days,” Ms. Waters said. “I knew people liked me in this market but the remarks I’m getting…
“I’m going to miss the place so much. We really are a family over there,” she said, adding that KDKA colleagues over the years helped her through the deaths of both parents and a brother, not to mention back surgery last October.
“And the viewers? Oh my God, the viewers have been amazing.”
She will say a formal good-bye on the 6 p.m. newscast Friday.
Waters said what comes next isn’t certain, but joked that “old reporters never die, they go into PR, right?”
“She’s such a solid journalist; I thought it was wonderful she was able to do ‘On a Positive Note’ again. Everyone says good news doesn’t sell but these days, we can all sure use a reprieve [from the bad],” said former KDKA colleague Mary Robb Jackson. The two also worked together at WPXI early in their careers.
“Brenda has been a valued asset to KDKA-TV and will be missed. We wish her well in her new beginning,” the station said in a recent statement announcing the retirement.
Ms. Waters was a native of North Carolina and Washington, D.C., who attended the University of Maryland and earned a master’s degree in public relations from American University. She began her KDKA career as a general assignment reporter, covering breaking news at the CBS affiliate. In 1990, she and John Shumway anchored KDKA’s first weekday morning newscast. For years, she and Paul Martino anchored the weekend evening news.
More recently, Ms. Waters was solo anchor for the 6-8 a.m. Saturday morning program. More than 20 years ago, she created the “On a Positive Note” segments that featured unsung heroes doing good deeds. It had been resurrected to popular response.
Recent segments included a teen from Mt. Lebanon whose drawings of birds are a hit on Instagram, as well as an artist who biked 412 miles in seven days out of McKeesport-area trails to raise money for 412 Food Rescue.
Her drive to look for the good in people seems to extend beyond the stories she reports.
“She just radiates joy. The newsroom came alive when she’d walk in,” said Jim Lokay, a former colleague now anchoring and hosting for FOX5 in Washington, D.C.
“And she had this terrific work ethic — she had this incredible ability to connect with people. But she definitely shines most when she was able to cover those positive stories.
“I will always remember her willing to strap on a tail at the ‘Furry’ [Anthrocon] convention and do a little shimmy.”
Mr. Lokay said he recalls feeling daunted when, as a 25-year-old, he had to work with people he’d watched on TV.
“Yet Brenda treated me like a peer. Getting to watch her in action was a master class in local news.”
Working with @BRENDASNEWS will always be one of the great honors of my career. In a job where listening is just as important as speaking, she had such an incredible way of connecting with Pittsburgh. Classy. Beautiful. Smart. Brenda, you earned this retirement! ❤️ you! pic.twitter.com/zPeXrdnPvb
— Jim (@Lokay) May 27, 2020
Jon Burnett, who retired last summer after a long career at the station, described her this way: “Brenda Waters was the big sister that I had never, ever wanted… until I met Brenda Waters!”
Her versatility was apparent. “She is the one who can do a death-and-taxes story one day and the next, do a “On a Positive Note,” Mr. Burnett added.
The segments “are back in a big way, as it should be. It’s just a wonderful glimpse into the good in humanity that we need to see more of.
“And who better to show it than Brenda Waters?
“She is going to be dearly missed.”
“I wasn’t born and raised in Pittsburgh but I feel this is my home,” Ms. Waters said. “So I am a Pittsburgher.”
Maria Sciullo: msciullo@post-gazette.com or @Maria_Sciullo_.
First Published: May 28, 2020, 7:36 p.m.
