Kimberly Gill feels blessed to sit at the KDKA-TV news desk as the co-anchor of the coveted noon and 4 p.m. weekdays newscasts.
“Pittsburgh is a great city with great viewers and co-workers. I’m happy to be here and I hope to be here a long time,” said Gill who hails from Newberry, S.C. “Pittsburgh is surprisingly beautiful. It’s a hidden treasure. They’ve done a great job to revitalize the Downtown area and it is a very walkable place and there is a lot to do in downtown Pittsburgh.”
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| KIMBERLY GILL |
Gill came to the Golden Triangle in early October after leaving her post as a weekday anchor for WEWS-TV 5 in Cleveland. Prior to that, Gill anchored the weekday morning and noon shows for WBTSW- News 13 in Myrtle Beach, S.C.
Her interest in broadcast journalism was piqued when she realized she had the gift for gab and enjoyed sharing that gift.
“I like to meet people and I like being a voice for the people. I can talk to any type of person whether it be the president or a homeless person. I like to meet people,” Gill said.
She paid her way through the University of South Carolina in six years by driving 18 wheeler trucks for FedEx.
“I don’t come from a family that has lots of money. I was the first one in my family to go to college. I had to find a job. There were times when I said ‘screw this I can just get a better job at FedEx.’ I’d been there for almost seven years and I could have gone into a management position and made a good living. But I said why not step out on faith and I haven’t been disappointed yet. But I keep my license updated because it’s a lot of work. The license isn’t any easy thing to get—you go through truck driving and you have to learn the parts of a truck—It’s not something you just get. It’s something I’m proud of and it’s something I had to work for,” she said with a smile.
Gill would use the time at FedEx to better herself and better her on-air persona.
“I liked to listen to self-help books on how I could better myself and I recorded my class lessons and I would critique my voice and I’d work on my voice and if any words didn’t sound neutral I would work on them. I learned a lot about people from all walks of life. I appreciated what I went through. It taught me a lot about hard work. Driving a truck is not beneath me,” she said.
Gill’s day as a co-anchor begins at 11 a.m. when she prepares for the noon newscast. After leaving the air, Gill may go out with a photographer and write and log a story for the next day’s newscast before returning to the station at 3 p.m. to prepare for the 4 p.m. newscast. Her day ends around 7 p.m.
“I enjoy being out and interacting with the community and getting to meet people. I appreciate that KDKA allows us to do that. I may also introduce stories from the news room,” she said.
KDKA-TV news director, Tina Veon believes Gill is the perfect addition to the channel’s family.
“She’s the total package. She’s so down to earth and that is important in Pittsburgh because she has to be real. She’s like a Pittsburgher and she’s never lived here,” Veon said.
When asked what sage advice she has for aspiring broadcast journalists, Gill said simply: never stop learning.
“People try to automatically discredit you with their own perceptions of you, I try even harder to learn everything about my job. I learn how to be a good writer, a good editor. I want to know what makes a good TV show period. I have worked hard to be able to do more than my job so I am not someone who just sits there. I’ve worked hard to be where I am,” Gill said.