Longtime WNBC Investigative Reporter Reveals Network Eliminated Her Position
After parting ways with New York-based news station WNBC, longtime investigative journalist Sarah Wallace wants to clear the air: She’s not retiring.
Instead, the seasoned journalist, whose resume boasts 19 Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, revealed in a direct-to-camera social media video on Friday that her position was entirely eliminated from the company, citing the changing media landscape as the cause for her career change.
“As we know, the media landscape around the country has changed, and WNBC made the difficult financial decision not to renew my contract and to actually eliminate my position as an investigative reporter,” Wallace said. “I had 11 great years there, and they have been fabulous to me. I’m also grateful to all of you who have reached out with your support: your calls, your messages, your emails.”
In the video, Wallace looked at the bright side of the situation, saying that she will now be able to dive even deeper into investigation outside of WNBC. However, she, like many journalists who have been laid off, now faces the struggle of finding the best channel through which to continue her work.
“Now, I am able to focus full-time on my passion of investigative reporting: crime, corruption, wherever it leads, and I am just now looking for the right platform to do it,” Wallace shared. “You’re going to be seeing more of me, and I want to hear from you, so I’ll keep you posted.”
You can watch the full video below.
Wallace’s exit from WNBC appears far more harmonious than her headline-making departure from ABC7’s Eyewitness News in 2015. As was reported at the time, Wallace sued her former employer for $600,000, claiming gender discrimination. Though, the network blasted the suit as “totally without merit.” The suit was discontinued in a January 2016.
Wallace’s story is becoming all too familiar in the media world, as mass layoffs and restructurings continue across the industry. In the past 10 days, BuzzFeed cut the HuffPost National Desk to three reporters and Vox laid off four employees after being acquired by James Murdoch’s Lupa Systems and. In July, BuzzFeed laid off 35% of its workforce, while Patreon laid off 20%.
These losses have hit the entertainment sector as well. Despite the massive success of “Toy Story 5,” Disney let go of hundreds of staffers in July, with Pixar hit particularly hard. Annapurna similarly laid off 30 staffers on Wednesday due to “shifting market conditions.” In 2025, entertainment and media layoffs were up 18%, with over 17,000 jobs cut across television, film, broadcast, news and streaming in the first 11 months of the year.
