Elisabeth Leamy
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Elisabeth Ann Leamy (born September 10, 1967) is an American journalist, author and speaker. Currently, she writes a column for ''The Washington Post''. Leamy also hosts a podcast called "Easy Money", produced by District Productive in Washington, D.C. Leamy has been the investigative correspondent for '' The Dr. Oz Show'' since 2013. From 2005 to 2013, she was the consumer correspondent for ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' and other
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
programs. Leamy wrote an ABC News Business column from 2006 to 2015. In 2014, she was the host of the YouTube show "Free For All", about free products and services available to consumers. Leamy is the author of two books, ''Save BIG: Cut Your Top 5 Costs and Save Thousands'' (2010) and ''The Savvy Consumer: How to Avoid Scams and Rip-Offs That Cost You Time and Money'' (2004) and is the recipient of 13
Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
. Leamy is also a professional speaker with membership in the
National Speakers Association The National Speakers Association (NSA) is a US based association that supports motivational speaking, motivational and other public speakers. It is the oldest and largest of 13 international associations comprising the Global Speakers Federation ...
. She gives speeches about financial literacy, career success, pitching stories to the media, and saving money.


Early life

Elisabeth Ann Leamy was born September 10, 1967, in St. Louis, MO, and spent most of her childhood in the San Francisco Bay Area. She graduated from The Branson School in Ross, California. Leamy received her bachelor's degree from the
University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
and her master's degree from
Northwestern University Northwestern University (NU) is a Private university, private research university in Evanston, Illinois, United States. Established in 1851 to serve the historic Northwest Territory, it is the oldest University charter, chartered university in ...
's Medill School of Journalism.


Career


Early career

Leamy began her television news career in Bakersfield, California, at
KERO-TV KERO-TV (channel 23) is a television station in Bakersfield, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on 21st Street in Downtown Bakersfield, and its transmitter ...
23. She then worked at
WFLA-TV WFLA-TV (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Tampa, Florida, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Tampa Bay area. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg–licensed The CW, C ...
in Tampa from 1994 to 1997. Leamy was the consumer and investigative reporter at Fox 5 WTTG in Washington, D.C., from 1997 to 2005.


Current career

Currently, Elisabeth Leamy writes a
Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
consumer column about topics such as how to avoid robocalls, whether expensive paint brands are worth it, and ways to save money on organic groceries. Leamy launched a podcast in June 2006 called "Easy Money" about ways to make more money, save more money, and find your unclaimed money. The podcast has an accompanying blog where Leamy posts detailed show notes for her listeners. Leamy continues to work as the investigative correspondent for '' The Dr. Oz Show''. She frequently discusses her consumer and medical reports as a guest on Washington, D.C., radio stations and television stations. From 2005 to 2013, she was the consumer correspondent for ''
Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'', often abbreviated as ''GMA'', is an American breakfast television, morning television program that is broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends wit ...
'' and other
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
programs. Leamy continues to write an
ABC News ABC News most commonly refers to: * ABC News (Australia), a national news service of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation * ABC News (United States), a news-gathering and broadcasting division of the American Broadcasting Company ABC News may a ...
Business column. She was host of the YouTube show "Free For All", about free products and services available to consumers. Leamy is the author of two books, ''Save BIG: Cut Your Top 5 Costs and Save Thousands'' (2010) and ''The Savvy Consumer: How to Avoid Scams and Rip-Offs That Cost You Time and Money'' (2004).


Notable news reports

In 1999, while at
WTTG WTTG (channel 5) is a television station in Washington, D.C., serving as the market's Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside MyNetworkTV station WDCA (cha ...
, Leamy broadcast an investigative story about a Washington, D.C., rave party called " Buzz". The story alleged that D.C. police officers working off-duty security for the party ignored drug use by patrons. The
Washington City Paper The ''Washington City Paper'' is a U.S. alternative weekly newspaper serving the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area since 1981. The ''City Paper'' is distributed on Thursdays; its average circulation in 2006 was 85,588. The paper's editorial ...
criticized the story. Buzz was temporarily shut down and the owners later sued WTTG. In 2006, Leamy investigated the herbal remedy " Airborne" for ''Good Morning America'', questioning the company's clinical trial evidence and marketing claims. Two years later, Airborne settled a class action lawsuit and FTC charges, not admitting fault, but agreeing to refund consumers up to $30 million. In 2010, Leamy conducted an exclusive interview with
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
about the
Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, commonly referred to as Dodd–Frank, is a United States federal law that was enacted on July 21, 2010. The law overhauled financial regulation in the aftermath of the Great Reces ...
. From 2011 to 2012, Leamy did a series of reports for ''Good Morning America'' called "Show Me the Money" which reunited people with unclaimed money held by the government totaling nearly $2 million. Leamy's story about a
West Virginia West Virginia is a mountainous U.S. state, state in the Southern United States, Southern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States.The United States Census Bureau, Census Bureau and the Association of American ...
Woman who was trying to collect a $10 million judgment from an abusive debt collector was ABC's most-trafficked web feature of 2012. In 2013, Leamy reported for '' The Dr. Oz Show'' that epidural steroid injections for
back pain Back pain (Latin: ''dorsalgia'') is pain felt in the back. It may be classified as neck pain (cervical), middle back pain (thoracic), lower back pain (lumbar) or coccydynia (tailbone or sacral pain) based on the segment affected. The lumbar area ...
are not FDA approved and have caused injuries and deaths. Later that year, she reported that
LASIK LASIK or Lasik (; "laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis"), commonly referred to as laser eye surgery or laser vision correction, is a type of refractive surgery for the correction of myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. LASIK surgery is p ...
eye surgery had more serious side effects than first reported. In 2015, Leamy reported for '' The Dr. Oz Show'' that ten doctors who had called upon Columbia University to fire Dr. Oz had ties to the Genetically Modified Food industry. Dr. Oz has said that genetically modified food should be labeled as such.


Personal life

Leamy is married to Kris Persinger, a financial planner, and they have a daughter, Kelsea Adair Leamy Persinger, born in 2006. Her father is Patrick MacLeamy, Chairman of HOK, an architectural firm. Her mother is Jeanne MacLeamy, city council member for Novato, California. John Leamy, the drummer for Masters of Reality, and Elisabeth are cousins.


Awards

Leamy is the recipient of 13
Emmy awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
and 4 Edward R. Murrow Awards. In 2001, she was a finalist for the Livingston Award for young journalists.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Leamy, Elisabeth 1967 births Living people American women television journalists 20th-century American women journalists 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American women journalists 21st-century American journalists Journalists from St. Louis University of California, Berkeley alumni Medill School of Journalism alumni 20th-century American women American women podcasters American business and finance podcasters