ATLANTA — Channel 2 Action News celebrated a milestone on Wednesday, marking the 35th year Monica Pearson has been anchoring and reporting at WSB-TV.
Monica joined Channel 2 in 1975 and has delivered the news to metro Atlanta viewers with integrity, dedication and warmth.
"There's no other anchor in the country like Monica. Whether she's Kaufman or Pearson, she is just Monica," said Channel 2 Action News news director Marian Pittman.
Monica has been the one viewers have turned to and trusted when they want to get the major news of the day, a trend that continues every weekday on Channel 2 Action News at 6 and 11 p.m.
SLIDESHOW: Monica Pearson Through The Years
Monica doesn't just anchor the evening newscasts, she has and continues to go all over Georgia, across the United States and even to other countries to report compelling stories.
"The time I think we both enjoyed the most was going to Oslo, to cover President Carter getting the Nobel Peace Prize," said John Pruitt.
During her years hosting "Closeups," Monica has interviewed many of the world's most well-known entertainers.
"Time and time again, you heard many actors say 'Wow. How did you know that? You did your research. I didn't know you knew that about me,"' said WSB-TV programming director Art Rogers. "She always is able to find out some little nugget of information about these big stars to get the kind of response no one else got all day long in these interviews," said Rogers.
For her work, Monica has received some of journalism's highest honors -- 29 Emmy awards, the Women's Sports Journalism Award and two National American Women in Radio and Television Awards. Monica was also inducted into her home state of Kentucky's journalists hall of fame.
"She really cares about the viewers and I have the highest, most utmost respect for her as a journalist. We're so fortunate to have her, and the industry is so fortunate to have someone like her as an icon for many, many people to look up to," said Pittman.