Wendy Anne Bergen (January 3, 1956 – April 26, 2017) was an American television journalist. Bergen was raised in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich ( ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it had a population of 63,518. It is the largest town on Gold Coast (Connecticut), Connectic ...

, and graduated from the

University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...

. She began her television career as a weather reporter in

Lake Placid, New York Lake Placid is a Administrative divisions of New York#Village, village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, Essex County, New York (state), New York, United States. In 2020, its population was 2,205. The village of Lake Placid ...

. In 1983, Bergen joined KCNC-TV and became a star reporter for the station. In 2017, Bergen died of a brain aneurysm.

''Blood Sport''

In the spring of 1990, Bergen made a documentary called ''Blood Sport'' where she claimed there was an underground network of pitbulls involved in dogfighting in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

. But she secretly staged dogfights to make footage for the documentary. Debra Saunders of the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' was one of the first journalists to question her account alongside ''

Rocky Mountain News The ''Rocky Mountain News'' (nicknamed the ''Rocky'') was a daily newspaper published in Denver, Colorado, from April 23, 1859, until February 27, 2009. It was owned by the E. W. Scripps Company from 1926 until its closing. the Monday–Friday ...

''. Bergen was pressured to resign on September 6, 1990, when her deception was discovered. She was later found guilty of staging dogfighting but not for perjury. She later had to pay a $20,000 fine.

References

1955 births 2017 deaths Hoaxes in the United States Journalistic hoaxes People from Greenwich, Connecticut American television reporters and correspondents Deaths from intracranial aneurysm Neurological disease deaths in the United States American television news anchors Emmy Award winners University of Utah alumni Journalists from Connecticut American people convicted of cruelty to animals American female criminals 20th-century American philanthropists {{US-journalist-1950s-stub