Pam Zekman (born October 22, 1944, in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

) is an American journalist who had been an investigative reporter at

WBBM-TV WBBM-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Chicago, Illinois, United States, serving as the market's CBS network outlet. Owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, the station maintains studios on West Washington St ...

in Chicago from 1981 to 2020. A graduate of 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 ...

, Zekman spent over a decade as a newspaper reporter before working in television. Zekman is known for her aggressive investigative work, including the purchase of the Mirage Tavern. She has shared two

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...

s for her reporting for the ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'' (1971–76) and the ''

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily nonprofit newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has long held the second largest circulation among Chicago newspaper ...

'' (1976–81). As a young woman, Zekman was also a competitive figure skater, finishing fifth in junior ladies singles at the

1961 United States Figure Skating Championships The 1961 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held at the Broadmoor World Arena (1938), World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colorado, from January 25 to 29, 1961. Medals were awarded in three colors: gold (first), silver (second), and bronze (thir ...

. Zekman, along with fellow WBBM personalities, police reporter John Drummond, chief correspondent Jay Levine, and then evening anchor/reporter Lester Holt appeared in the final scenes of the 1993 film '' The Fugitive'', playing themselves. She, along with Drummond, also appeared in the 1996 film ''

Chain Reaction A chain reaction is a sequence of reactions where a reactive product or by-product causes additional reactions to take place. In a chain reaction, positive feedback leads to a self-amplifying chain of events. Chain reactions are one way that sys ...

''. Zekman was sued for defamation and libel by the chief toxicologist of the Cook County medical examiner's office after reporting the office was mishandling cases. The case was dismissed on both counts. Zekman began working at WBBM in 1981, and in that time she has investigated Medicare fraud, dangerous cab and bus drivers, tax fraud, and government waste, among many other things. Zekman was laid off on May 27, 2020.

Personal life

Zekman has been married twice. Her first husband was U.S. district judge James Zagel. The couple divorced in 1975. Her second husband, former Chicago newspaperman Rick Soll, died on April 22, 2016. Zekman's father, Theodore N. Zekman, was a Chicago ophthalmologist.

References

External links

"Pam Zekman"
Bio from WBBM-TV, CBS2Chicago. {{DEFAULTSORT:Zekman, Pam 1944 births Living people Television anchors from Chicago Chicago Sun-Times people Chicago Tribune people American female single skaters American women television journalists 21st-century American women 20th-century American sportswomen