Acting isn’t that much of a far cry from broadcast journalism. Sure, the latter is significantly more fact-based, but both require a degree of theatricality and an innate ability to draw viewers into a story.
Having an acting background served Alexandra Todd well after the 32-year-old Mount Washington native abruptly decided to pursue broadcast journalism after spending six years as a working thespian. It didn’t take Todd long after switching careers to find herself returning home as KDKA-TV’s newest full-time reporter.
Her first day at Channel 2 is Monday, and local news consumers can expect to see her on the air regularly starting Oct. 1.
“Whenever you’re in this field, you get plopped into these great cities and have to learn their way of life,” Todd told the Post-Gazette. “Here, I know how to connect with people from Munhall and say, ‘Oh my gosh, my grandfather was a steel worker too!’ ... This is home, and having such a connection to every story, it hits different.”
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Todd is a Seneca Valley High School graduate whose father worked at U.S. Steel and grandfather performed live on KDKA Radio almost a century ago with his band, the Shag Level Cider Hounds. She has always been intrigued by “how fascinating the melting pot is here” and believes that Pittsburghers are “just salt-of-the-earth, fantastic, hard-working, funny, awesome people.”
In 2013, Todd earned a bachelor’s degree in early childhood and special education from New York University. She did a little preschool and kindergarten teaching in New York City, but most of her 2013-19 was spent trying to make it as an actor in Los Angeles and the Big Apple. Her on-screen credits include small parts in shows like AMC’s “Mad Men,” Showtime’s “Billions” and Netflix’s “Orange is the New Black.”
Entertainment can be a “crazy, crazy business,” especially for actors like Todd who almost always seemed to finish as the “runner-up girl” in auditions.
“My heart wasn’t completely in it,” she said. “It’s one of those industries that if you’re not do or die, they’ll pick that up in the casting room.”
Eventually, Todd realized that she “wanted to be in control of storytelling” rather than continuing to scrap and claw for even the tiniest roles. She committed to her new career path by moving to Chicago in 2020 and getting a master’s degree in broadcast journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
During that time, Todd got her first taste of the broadcast life through Medill Reports Chicago and hosting an “A&E with Alexandra T.” segment on Chicago Access Network TV.
Western Pennsylvanians will probably appreciate the “Pittsburghese Explainer” video that Todd made during her graduate school days that currently has about 68,000 views on YouTube.
Her first full-time journalism job was as an anchor and reporter at KSFY-TV/KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Todd worked there for two years as a morning weekday anchor and occasional features reporter. She also helped launch Dakota News Now’s weekly “Wild Wednesday” segment in which folks from Sioux Falls’ Great Plains Zoo introduce viewers to various animals.
Todd is “still in disbelief honestly” that she has already secured a job at one of her hometown’s big three news stations. She has always felt a “special little thrill” while consuming Pittsburgh news and can’t wait to “be a sponge and absorb everything” from veteran KDKA talent like Heather Abraham and Ken Rice.
Part of the reason Todd is confident she’ll fit in well at KDKA is its emphasis on both hard news reporting and lighter subject matter through shows like “Pittsburgh Today Live.”
“I don’t like to just sit down, do the story and leave,” she said. “I just want to constantly use my background in video-making and being in the entertainment world to say, ‘I know news is first, but there needs to be that balance and other ways for people to connect with their communities and city.’
“It doesn’t have to be all intense stuff. ... It can be things for people to rally around and find hope in.”
There’s a creative side to Todd that clearly didn’t fade after she left acting behind. She has already begun kicking around a few ideas that she thinks have the potential to resonate with KDKA’s audience.
“My goal in life and my goal in this position is to connect with the viewers,” she said. “I want to make them smile, keep them informed, and to let them know I get them and I’m here solely for them.”
Joshua Axelrod: jaxelrod@post-gazette.com and Twitter @jaxelburgh.
First Published: September 15, 2023, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: September 15, 2023, 2:51 p.m.