Paula Ebben co-anchors the 6pm news on WBZ-TV CBS 4 and the 10pm news on WSBK-TV My 38 in Boston.
Paula has been with CBS Boston since 2002 in various positions, including eight years anchoring the morning newscasts. During her time there, she has reported on big local and national stories such as the Boston Marathon Bombings, which she and the WBZ team won a Alfred I. duPont Award and George Foster Peabody Award for. She was also chosen to report for CBS stations from London for The Royal Wedding. Before joining WBZ, Paula was an anchor and reporter at New England Cable News. She has also been a reporter for WGMC-TV in Worcester (now Charter TV 3.)
A native of Shrewsbury, MA, Paula is a 1989 graduate of Boston College where she received a Bachelor's degree in English.
1. What kind of phone do you have, and what are your favorite apps?
I love my iPhone 6 for its size, and other than the usual news apps you’d expect, some favorite apps are Twitter which I check several times an hour! Snapseed which my friend Christina Hager showed me for quickly improving photos, and Waze - essential for navigating the never-ending roadwork in and around the Boston area!
2. Favorite and least favorite news topics to cover (besides violent crime)?
I can’t tell you how much I enjoy working on stories for our Eye on Education series. I have the opportunity to meet some of the most fascinating, hard-working and brilliant minds in Massachusetts. There is no other issue that crosses all party lines, touches every community or affects people at every economic level the way education does. I’ve met impressive teachers and enthusiastic students, and there is some amazing work being done in schools all around us. I have a passion for Politics, so I can’t wait for the New Hampshire Primary. And I love both Sports and the Arts – for all of these, I think we can all agree that Boston is the best news market in the country!
My least favorite story to cover is any that involve children who are hurt or suffering. Those are tough, especially for parents of young children. It’s always part of the job, and as professionals we all do our best to tell stories as well as we can, but there isn’t an anchor or reporter I know who doesn’t find it very difficult to cover a story when a child is in danger.
3. If you weren't working in TV news, what would you be doing?
I’d be a full-time writer – I come from a family of them. My Great-Grandfather, C. O’Connell Galvin came to Massachusetts in the 1890’s from Ireland to cover “the Troubles” for the Irish immigrants here in Boston. He wrote for the Hearst newspapers, and his daughter followed in his footsteps. My Grandmother, Margaret Galvin Hines wrote for The Boston Post, where she met my Grandfather. Their son, my Uncle Paul Hines covered the Red Sox for the Post in the ‘40’s. So, my family’s been covering news in Boston for over 100 years. When you’re Irish, you love telling a good story.
4. What was your favorite cartoon growing up?
The classics: The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Scooby-Doo, Bugs Bunny, but my kids got me hooked on SpongeBob!
5. When you have 30 minutes of free-time, how do you pass the time?
I have four children, so probably doing laundry or something that I need to organize for school or do for them – it never stops! When I truly have 30 minutes to myself, I read or catch up on the shows I’ve been waiting to watch on DVR, especially VEEP!
6. If you could travel anywhere, where would you go and why?
My husband and I love to travel – in Europe we need to go to Germany, Austria, Switzerland next, but some dream destinations are Bora Bora, Australia and New Zealand.
7. Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
A former or sitting President of the United States.
8. Do you collect anything?
I have a growing collection of Press Credentials hanging on the back of my office door. I got the idea from a WBZ colleague, longtime Producer Ken Tucci who has an impressive number of them, and so I started to keep them together after big events. I’m sure some of them from Political conventions, etc. will be collector’s items someday!
9. What are the top 3 played songs on your iPod?
I don’t have an iPod, but we have a lot of fun with our bump music on the 10pm News on myTV38, and my top songs of the moment include: Riptide by Vance Joy, and anything by Adele or Beyonce.
10. What is one of your favorite quotes?
It’s the one my Mother taught me: “It is only with the heart that one can see rightly, what is essential is invisible to the eye.” - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
11. What was the last experience that made you a stronger person?
Raising four children. My husband and I have two girls and two boys, and they are the center of our universe. Being a Mother is a life-altering experience, of course, but the day-in day-out experience of loving and caring for four human beings who depend on you completely is terrifying, humbling and gratifying all at the same time. There’s no question, parenthood shows you what you’re made of, and makes you stronger because you’re constantly tested…and failure is not an option. I’m grateful I had a strong Mother who I try to emulate.
More about Paula Ebben
No endorsement between WBZ-TV and New England One is implied or intended by Paula Ebben's participation in "11 Questions"
