Jackie Bange is an award-winning journalist, reporter and weekend anchor for WGN News at Nine. Jackie joined the WGN-TV News team in August 1993 as a reporter and anchored WGN Morning News from January 1995 to October 1995.
Prior to her arrival at WGN-TV, Jackie was a general assignment reporter and weekend anchor for WMAQ-TV in Chicago. Jackie also served as a reporter and noon anchor for WPEC-TV in West Palm Beach, Florida.
Aside from providing in-depth coverage of local stories, Jackie has reported from exotic international locales, including Africa and Paris, France. After Hurricane Katrina, Jackie also brought Chicagoland “Into the Darkness,” a story profiling two local pilots and their crew who were the first to arrive in New Orleans and help rescue hundreds of stranded residents. Utilizing night-vision goggles, Jackie recreated the rescue for viewers, and “Into the Darkness” won the Illinois Associated Press award: Best Hard News Feature.
Other awards Jackie has won include a Best Feature Reporting Emmy in 1999 for her series on attaining the world record for the largest skydive formation. She also won the Peter Lisagor award in 2009 for Hard News and In-Depth Reporting by helping a widow “get justice” for her husband who was killed by a suspected drunk driver.
For the past several years, Jackie has worked with Elmhurst College’s Mentor Program for students interested in the field of journalism. She serves on the board of Michael Matters, an organization created to help those fighting brain cancer. Jackie is involved in the fundraising efforts for A Safe Place, a domestic violence prevention organization in Lake County.
Jackie received her post-baccalaureate degree in Telecommunications from the University of Florida where she graduated with distinction. Jackie’s undergraduate degree was from Florida State University in Management Information Systems. She is proud to carry on a family tradition of television. Her father was a news anchor in Miami, Florida, and Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Her mother was a weather girl in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. She is married with three children. In her free time, Jackie enjoys skydiving and athletic training. She has completed seven Triathlons.
