Janelle Hall joined WTAE Channel 4 Action News as a general assignment reporter in September 2004. Two years later, she was promoted to weekend morning anchor.

Prior to joining WTAE, this Oil City, Pa., native was a reporter at WNDU in South Bend, Ind. Before reporting at WJET in Erie, she served as an anchor for a health show on a Cleveland cable station and also anchored an educational show on PBS 45/49 in Ohio.

Hall's reporting career began at two radio stations in her hometown, WFRA-FM and WRJS-FM, at the age of 16.

The Indiana Society of Professional Journalists honored Hall with an award for "Best Investigative Reporting" for her undercover look into pirated products like illegal DVDs and CDs sold on the streets. She also won SPJ awards for her spot news, feature reporting and coverage of minority issues.

Hall's award-winning investigation into the delay in DNA processing in Indiana state crime labs helped uncover the backlog in unsolved cases.

She also earned a national William Randolph Hearst journalism award for feature writing.

Hall graduated from Kent State University with a major in broadcast news and a minor in criminal justice. She and her husband live in the Pittsburgh area.

Following in her father's footsteps, Janelle volunteers as a mentor for a local teenager in the Big Brothers and Big Sisters program. She's also a member of the St. Anthony Charitable Foundation Board, which aims to help students with developmental disabilities find scholarships for schooling.

Her favorite part of the job is being able to connect with people in the area and to help share their story. “I also thrive on breaking news,” she says.

If you want to contact Hall, or you have a story idea for her, she can be reached at jmhall@hearst.com.