Shannon Paige Sohn (born February 27, 1974) is a television news reporter at

WABC-TV WABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in New York City, serving as the flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, WABC-TV maintains studios in the Hudson Square neighborhood ...

Eyewitness News in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, where she became the first helicopter reporter to win a national

Emmy Award 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 ...

Early life and education

Sohn grew up in

Old Bridge Township, New Jersey Old Bridge Township is a township in Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of th ...

, and graduated from Cedar Ridge High School in 1992. She attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University ( ), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of three campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's C ...

, majoring in journalism and communications with a minor in advertising. While in college, Sohn spent two years as an intern at

WCTC WCTC (1450 AM "Fox Sports New Jersey") is a commercial radio station broadcasting a sports radio format. Licensed to New Brunswick, New Jersey, the station serves Middlesex, Somerset, and Union counties. The station is owned by Beasley Bro ...

News Radio in

New Brunswick, New Jersey New Brunswick is a city (New Jersey), city in and the county seat of Middlesex County, New Jersey, Middlesex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey.Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

'' while at WCTC. In 2000, she earned a degree in broadcast meteorology degree through courses taken online at

Mississippi State University Mississippi State University for Agriculture and Applied Science, commonly known as Mississippi State University (MSU), is a Public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Mississippi State, Mississippi, Un ...

Career

Sohn started doing airplane traffic reports for three

radio stations, WABC,

WHTZ WHTZ (100.3 FM) is a commercial contemporary hit radio station licensed to Newark, New Jersey, and broadcasting to the New York metropolitan area. It is owned by iHeartMedia. WHTZ is the flagship station for ''Elvis Duran and the Morning Show' ...

, and

WPLJ WPLJ (95.5 FM) is a non-commercial, listener-supported radio station, licensed to New York, New York. Owned by the Educational Media Foundation (EMF), based in Franklin, Tennessee, it broadcasts EMF's Christian adult contemporary formatted p ...

. In 2001, she was hired by

as part of its Eyewitness News Team on NewsCopter 7. She won a

Peabody Award The George Foster Peabody Awards (or simply Peabody Awards or the Peabodys) program, named for the American businessman and philanthropist George Foster Peabody, George Peabody, honor what are described as the most powerful, enlightening, and in ...

for her coverage of the

September 11 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

. She was scheduled to end her shift just minutes after the first tower was hit and did not leave her chair in the studio until Friday, providing news to the public as it came in from reporters in the field. In 2005, while flying in the WABC helicopter, she was able to track the crash of the

WNBC WNBC (channel 4) is a television station in New York City that serves as the flagship (broadcasting), flagship of the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Linden, New Jersey� ...

Chopper 4 helicopter, using the helicopter's camera to track the crash, hoping that the images would allow emergency personnel to be accurately and quickly directed to the precise location of the incident. Sohn won a local Emmy Award for "Instant Breaking News" for her coverage of the crash. The clip was submitted for a national Emmy Award which Sohn won, making her the first helicopter reporter to win a national Emmy.

Personal life

In May 2001, Sohn married Dan Rice, who had trained her at WCTC and was then working for crosstown rival

on its Chopper 4. Sohn and Rice live with their children Mackenzie and Zachary in the Long Valley section of

Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey Washington Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in southwestern Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 18,197, a decrease of 336 (� ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sohn, Shannon 1974 births Living people Mississippi State University alumni Old Bridge High School alumni People from Old Bridge Township, New Jersey People from Washington Township, Morris County, New Jersey Rutgers University alumni