Melissa Russo Biography
Melissa Russo is an American TV journalist who is currently working for WNBC-TV News Channel 4 located in New York City. She was born on November 19th, 1968.
She is a government affairs reporter. She is also known for her insightful and compelling coverage of issues that are not ordinarily tackled on TV news. She attended Tufts University for her undergraduate studies. She is married to Frank and the family lives in Manhattan with two step-daughters, Grace and Kristin, and their 3-year-old daughter, Abigail.
She received her Master’s degree in Journalism from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree in political science from Tufts. She is an active member and past president of The Inner Circle, the annual charity roast of politicians.
Melissa Russo Age
She was born on November 19th, 1968. She is 50 years old as of 2018.
Melissa Russo
Melissa Russo Husband
She is married to Frank and the family lives in Manhattan.
Melissa Russo Children | Kids
She has two step-daughters, Grace and Kristin, and their 3-year-old daughter, Abigail.
Melissa Russo Career | Melissa Russo NBC 4 | Melissa Russo WNBC | Melissa Russo Channel 4
Melissa is an award-winning reporter. Due to her reputation for fairness and substantive reporting, she has gained unprecedented access to places where no other TV reporters have been permitted to go.
She has even visited the New York Health Department laboratories. She is a member of the NBC 4 New York I-Team. Their latest investigations have led to major changes in Government policy. She has 2 Edward R. Murrow awards and in 2014, she won because of her investigation report, Closing Time: Due Process Denied.
The investigations exposed budget cuts that resulted in children being separated unnecessarily from their parents. Back in March 2015, her I-Team report, Gateway to a Green Card, led to investigations conducted by the U.S Department of Homeland Security and the House Judiciary Committee.
In November 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio and the NYPD opened an investigation after the I-Team report, Begging with Babies, exposed an organized practice where women beg with their infants on the sidewalks and subways of Manhattan.
Back in 2012, the New York City Board of Health set new and tougher rules for monitoring sleeping infants in childcare after her investigation into the death of a 4-month-old child who was left unattended for several hours after she was put to sleep by daycare workers.
Russo’s numerous, The Wheels on the Bus, I-Team reports helped restore or improve school bus service for dozens of special needs children who were suffering for several hours a day on poorly designed routes against doctor’s orders.
She broke news on December 2014 of Mayor de Blasio’s proposal to replace the historic City Hall Portrait Collection just because it did not reflect the City’s racial diversity. Russo also broke the news that Lamont Pride, a cop killer, had been released without bail back in 2011 just days before he killed officer Peter Figoski.
NBC New York was the first to report the controversial arrival and departure of Cathie Black, Schools Chancellor, during Mayor Bloomberg’s tenure. Her work has received numerous national awards. She was the winner of the 2007 Edward R. Murrow Award for her 30 minutes investigative special, Confronting Child Abuse.
She also won the American Society Aging’s top awards because of her coverage of the issues affecting the elderly. She was voted as one of New York’s 25 most civic-minded women in January 2012. She has led to the exposure of many problems in the Government that have led to the following changes;
- Serious breakdowns in the computerized case-management system used by the Administration for Children’s Services (ACS), *The death of infant Matthew Perilli who in an unsupervised child care center as city officials bungled an inspection;
- Meals-on-Wheels mistakes in the Bronx that left elderly New Yorkers waiting days for food;
- Deplorable treatment of families in the homeless shelter system. Russo’s undercover videotape of the conditions was used by a State Supreme Court Judge in issuing a contempt ruling against New York City during the Giuliani administration. Russo’s in-depth reporting on the homeless earned her the NY Press Club’s highest honor; The Gold Typewriter Award for Outstanding Public Service.
She has interviewed all current mayors, governors, and senators. She was the Saturday evening newscaster at NBC New York 4 for several years and she used to fill in for Gabe Pressman as a host of the NBC 4 Public Affairs show, News forum.
Her work in front of the camera began as a child actor in films and TV commercials. She wrote several articles while she was still in college and the articles were published in the New York Times, including an Op-Ed on a controversial policy limiting free speech on the Tufts campus.
Before joining NBC New York, Russo began her TV career as an original member of the NY1 News Political Unit where she was the host of, Inside City Hall, a live 1-hour political talk show that aired on NY1. She videotaped numerous stories about herself while at NY1 and here, she developed her strong passion for fro photography.
