Pat Battle is the co-anchor for NBC 4 New York’s “Weekend Today in New York” which airs Saturday mornings between 6:00 A.M. – 7:00 A.M. and 9:00 A.M. – 10:00 A.M. and on Sunday mornings between 6:00 A.M. – 8:00 A.M. and 9:30 A.M. – 10:30 A.M. Battle also serves as the station’s senior New Jersey correspondent and has covered many breaking news stories in the Garden State as well as the breaking news of the day. As part of NBC 4’s team-coverage of Hurricane Sandy, she won a National Emmy and Edward R. Murrow award.
An energetic and dynamic reporter, Battle's outgoing personality, her compassion, sincerity and her ability to relate to people has endeared her to viewers. Whether celebrating their successes or relating their challenges, Battle has told countless stories with her uniquely personal touch. She is tough when she has to be, tender when she needs to be, always fair and consistently credible.
In the fall of 2013, Pat realized a longtime dream with the creation of The Good Fight: a regular segment in the newscast dedicated to telling stories about the good things people are doing in and for their communities and neighbors.
“I’ve spent 20 years out in the field talking to people and one of the things I hear most often is that the news is always bad, and therefore, difficult for some people to watch,” Pat says. “Whether it’s a beauty salon owner making expensive human hair wigs and giving them to women fighting cancer or a man collecting old iPods to give the gift of music to people suffering from Alzheimer’s or dementia - there is no shortage of good people out there doing great things. I am so privileged to be able to share those stories on News 4 New York and so proud that our management team supports me in that endeavor.”
Pat joined NBC 4 New York in April 1996 from WCBS-TV, where for three and a half years she was a general assignment reporter handling breaking news stories in the tri-state area. Her work earned her recognition as one of the best live reporters in the region.
Prior to WCBS-TV, she worked in a similar capacity for NBC-owned station WCAU-TV in Philadelphia covering the Delaware Valley area and hosting a weekly public affairs program with an in-studio audience. Battle also worked as a general assignment reporter, back-up anchor and host of a weekly public affairs program for the New Jersey Network News in Trenton for three years before moving on to work in Philadelphia.
Battle began her career as a newspaper reporter for the Asbury Park Press in Asbury Park, N.J., where she honed her journalism skills first as an intern while in college and then as a beat reporter. Her work earned her numerous journalism and community awards.
She is an award-winning journalist in both broadcast and print, but Battle takes great pride in her service and contributions to the community in which she works. In a testament to her commitment to giving back, she was awarded the first annual NBC 4 New York Community Outreach Hero Award in February 2013 for her ongoing dedication - "touching viewer’s one event at a time."
Whether it's a career day at a local school, an adoption event for homeless pets or a fashion show to help raise funds for victims of Sandy, Battle has worked tirelessly to lend her voice or a hand to public service organizations across the tri-state area.
Her efforts have been recognized by dozens of organizations -- from the Jackie Robinson Cultural Center to the Girl Scouts of America. Among other honors, Battle has won two New York Emmy awards for her work in television news. She was recognized in 2008 by the McDonald’s Corporation as a Broadcast Legend in the fast food company's Faces of Black History Campaign.
Battle has earned recognition for her contributions to public service from the Morris County Prosecutor's Office and the National Organization of Blacks in Law Enforcement (NOBLE). She was the 2008 recipient of the Circle of Honor Spirit Award from the Greater New Jersey Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association. Battle has served as honorary chairperson for the annual Memory Walk in Bergen County for nearly a decade. Since 2006, she has served as honorary chairperson for the Northern New Jersey Walk Now for Autism Speaks.
In the fall of 2010, Pat was diagnosed with breast cancer -- ductal carcinoma in situ -- and underwent surgery to remove the malignant cells from her right breast. She documented her personal journey, and in yet another public service, broadcast her story on "News 4 New York" at the close of Breast Cancer Awareness Month that October.
Her story, and an hour-long special "Talk for a Cure" that aired the following day on "Weekend Today in New York," earned two New York Emmy nominations. But even more significantly, the story drew an unprecedented response from viewers. Hundreds of women reached out to Battle, many of whom had not undergone mammograms with any regularity, if at all. Battle believes that early detection saved her life, and she has made educating others about that a mission, making public appearances at health fairs, ribbon cuttings, walk-athons and conferences and urging women to make annual mammograms a priority in their lives.
Her "compassion, wisdom and service" earned her the 2011 Survivor Award from the New York Chapter of Susan G. Komen for the Cure, which recognized her as "an inspirational role model" in the fight to end the disease that impacts one in eight women in the United States, as well as their families, friends, neighbors and colleagues.
Born and raised on the Jersey Shore, Battle graduated from the University of Maryland’s School of Journalism in College Park. She is married and has three children.
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