Former WBZ-TV anchor Uma Pemmaraju dies
Uma Pemmaraju, a popular TV news anchor and reporter in Boston in the 1990s, has died, according to her former employer, WBZ-TV.
Pemmaraju worked at WBZTV Channel 4 from 1992 to 1996 and then went on to work for Fox News and Bloomberg News, the station reported Tuesday.
A place and cause of death were not disclosed.
In a 1993 interview with the Globe, Pemmaraju explained how she tried to focus her reporting on stories about the disenfranchised.
“I’m a conduit to help other people,” she said. “I don’t want to sound too sentimental. But that’s what I’m about. I want to use my celebrity to help people, to help bring about something that needs to be done.”
Pemmaraju was born in India and moved to San Antonio with her parents when she was 6 years old.
During college she worked for a local newspaper and television station. She received her degree in political science from Trinity University in Texas.
She became a reporter in Dallas and Baltimore, winning a local Emmy in Baltimore for a report about the rescue of a child who nearly drowned, the Globe reported.
Pemmaraju first joined the Fox News Channel in 1996 as the host of “Fox News Now” and then returned in 2003 as a news update anchor and substitute host for various programs, according to her biography on the Fox News website. During her time there, Pemmaraju anchored “The Fox Report” and interviewed many high-profile newsmakers, including the Dalai Lama.
Suzanne Scott, chief executive officer of FOX News Media, said Pemmaraju was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of Uma Pemmaraju, who was one of FOX News Channel’s founding anchors and was on the air the day we launched,” Scott said in a statement.
“Uma was an incredibly talented journalist as well as a warm and lovely person, best known for her kindness to everyone she worked with. We extend our heartfelt condolences to her entire family.”
WBZ-TV reported the news of her death on Tuesday. She was 64 years old.