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Published on Wednesday, 05 September 2012 11:01
WMAQ-TV/NBC 5 Chicago has announced today that Lauren Jiggetts has been promoted to weekend news anchor, beginning September 15th. She will now be co-anchoring the Saturday & Sunday newscasts at 5:00pm and 10:00pm, alongside veteran news anchor Dick Johnson.
In addition to being a weekend news anchor, Lauren Jiggetts will continue to be one of the station's top reporters for its weeknight newscasts.
Lauren Jiggetts, a Chicago native, first joined WMAQ-TV as a general assignment reporter in January 2007. Prior to her coming back to her hometown to work, she previously was on the air as a reporter/fill-in anchor on Boston's WLVI-TV and an anchor for Los Angeles' "Channel One News."
She has also worked off-camera for MTV in New York, and interned at WFLD-TV and CLTV in Chicago.
Jiggetts has won two regional Emmy Awards and one national Emmy for her reporting work on WMAQ-TV.
Her famous father, Dan Jiggetts, is not only a Chicago media superstar -- known for his many years as a sports talker on WSCR-AM and his sportscaster experience on Comcast SportsNet Chicago, WFLD-TV, WBBM-TV, and elsewhere -- but also was an Offensive Tackle for the Chicago Bears from 1976-1982. Lauren Jiggetts' younger sister Kristan was also a local media person, working as a producer/director locally on various projects, including being a producer on the Chicago-based "Judge Jeanine Pirro" syndicated show. Kristan has since left the entertainment business and is now teaching high school children.
Lauren Jiggetts graduated Cum Laude in Sociology with a citation in Spanish from Harvard University in 2003.
Frank Whittaker, WMAQ-TV Station Manager and Vice President of News, issued a statement today, saying of Jiggetts: "This promotion is well-deserved. Over the past five years, Lauren has grown her skills as a reporter for both the morning and evening newscasts on NBC 5. Most recently, she did a superb job covering our local athletes at the London Olympics. I'm delighted we are able to promote from our own ranks."
Her co-anchor on the weekend newscasts, Dick Johnson,
took over that role in April of this year.
Updated at 2:00pm with additional and corrected information.
