First on New England One, longtime reporter Janet Wu has left WHDH-TV NBC 7 in Boston, we have learned.
In her time at 7 News, Janet has filled a variety of roles including covering medical news and special assignments, and was most recently a general assignment reporter and fill-in anchor.
She started at 7 News in 1997 as a special assignments reporter, and then spent six years covering medical news. After that, she still covered many of the big health stories for 7 News. She reported on the first face transplant done in the United States, and the world's first successful double hand transplant - both done at Brigham and Women's Hospital in 2011.
In addition to being a journalist, Janet is an essayist and op-ed contributor. She's been published in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the Boston Herald, and in academic publications. She has also lectured at Boston University, Brandeis, Bentley, and currently teaches at Emerson College.
Janet is an active supporter of multiple charity associations around the Boston area, as well as issues affecting women, both in enterprises as well as domestic violence. She is a long-time supporter of the American Heart Association in memory of her father, a noted heart surgeon. She is also a frequent lecturer at Boston-area foundations and a familiar emcee for numerous non-profit charitable events. She currently sits on the Boards of Visitors for the New England Conservatory of Music and The Franciscan Hospital for Children. She also sits on the Board of Advisors of HomeStart, and Max Warburg Courage Curriculum. In 2015, she was honored by the Girl Scouts of Eastern Massachusetts as one of the recipients of their Leading Women Awards.
Prior to joining WHDH, Janet spent one year as the weekday morning anchor for KIRO-TV CBS 7 in Seattle, WA. Before that, she was the weekend anchor and reporter at KGMB-TV in Honolulu, HI. She's also worked at KSBW-TV in Monterey, CA; and spent time working for WFSB-TV in Hartford, CT while she was in college.
Raised in Miami, FL, Janet moved to New England for college and received a Bachelor's degree in psychology and philosophy from Yale University in New Haven, CT. She also earned dual Master's degrees in journalism and international affairs from Columbia University in New York. In addition, she is currently working towards another Master's degree in literature and creative writing at Harvard University in Cambridge.
As for what's next, Janet tells New England One that she is currently weighing offers. She will be continuing her charity work in Boston, and still be teaching at Emerson.
She also tells us that she's been spending more time traveling back and forth between Boston and New York recently, and will be freelancing for WCBS-TV's CBS 2 News starting in late December. Her gig at WCBS could include contributing to CBS Newspath, the networks affiliate news gathering service, which means she could be seen in reports on WBZ in Boston.
Janet Wu Demo Reel
