On Thursday, November 16, 2000 at the Bala Golf Club, Broadcast Pioneers member Pat Ciarrocchi was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia. Pat was born on Wednesday, July 2, 1952.

Ciarrocchi joined Channel 3 in 1982. Prior to her current assignment, she set the pace for morning news in Philadelphia as the station’s early morning news anchor, growing that program from a half-hour newscast to a two-hour staple in the market. Ciarrocchi has excelled in a variety of assignments at Channel 3 from Evening Magazine, which she co-hosted from 1991-92, to serving as the station’s medical reporter for five years. Among those special assignments was her memorable coverage from Rome of St. Katherine Drexel’s canonization in 2000.

In addition to the Philadelphia Emmy Award, Ciarrocchi won the prestigious Gabriel Award from the National Catholic Association of Broadcasters, a CEBA Award recognizing communications excellence to Black audiences and a Sarah Award from Women in Communications locally. In 2000 she was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall of Fame in recognition of her accomplishments in the television industry.

Before returning home to Philadelphia, Ciarrocchi was anchor/reporter/producer for WHAG-TV in Hagerstown, Maryland for three years. She began her career in broadcasting in 1974 at WAMS Radio in Wilmington, where she was news reporter at the number-one rated Delaware radio station.

Active in the community, Ciarrocchi has dedicated her time to the serving on the boards of the Easter Seal Society and the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation. In 1989, she launched The Pat Ciarrocchi Golf Classic, which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for local charities. She has been awarded two honorary doctorate degrees, one from Neumann College in Aston, Delware County and one from Cabrini College in Radnor.

Ciarrocchi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Studies from Rosemont College in 1974. A native of Chester County, Ciarrocchi currently resides in Merion, PA with her husband, David Fineman, and his two sons. In her free time, she enjoys opera, travel and golf.

From the official archives of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia
© 2006, All Rights Reserved

The e-mail address of the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia is pioneers@broadcastpioneers.com