Claim to Fame: Journalist
DOB: Feb 23, 1938
Diabetes Type: Unknown
Well-known journalist Sylvia Chase was born on February 23, 1938. She studied at Northfield High School in Northfield, MN, then attended UCLA, where she received a BA in English in 1961.
Chase was once an unknown radio producer in Los Angeles, but made a name for herself as a journalist. Before she appeared on the first broadcast of the newsmagazine ABC News 20/20 in June of 1978, she anchored CBS Newsbreak, and hosted the CBS News broadcast. She won an Emmy Award and a Peabody Award for her solid investigative journalism. She has also won the ATAS Broadcast Journalism Award.
Chase reported on a number of issues, but has most often covered stories dealing with health and wellness. She reported on everything from an organization dedicated to reforming drug-addicted musicians to an FDA-approved diet pill that had been linked to incurable lung disease. Chase also uncovered and reported on the diabetes epidemic among Zuni Indians in New Mexico, a story that hit home, since Chase herself has diabetes.
In 1991, Chase received the Matrix Award, an annual award given by New York Women in Communications, Inc. in recognition of influential women in the media. A pioneer who helped pave the way for female journalists, Chase became successful as a result of human interest stories, often centered around women and children. She received significant acclaim for a report on an American woman whose children were kidnapped by her Serbian ex-husband and brought to war-ravaged former Yugoslavia. The story was celebrated for its hard-hitting, emotional content and sensitive, honest reporting.
Most recently, Chase appeared on the PBS television series NOW with Bill Moyers, prior to its cancelation in 2010. The program was composed of a collection of interviews, debates, and commentaries on pressing social and political issues, and was celebrated for its honest, aggressive coverage.
As a journalist, Chase has brought pressing issues to public attention, and forced scandalous and truly discouraging stories under the lens of society. Fearless and indomitable in her purpose, she has left her mark on journalism and changed investigative reporting for the better.