Denise Nakano, KYW Newsradio
Jessica Kartalija, CBS News Philadelphia
The Pennsylvania Association of Broadcasters shall recognize an active radio and television on-air broadcaster at the annual Excellence in Broadcasting Awards Luncheon. The award is conferred for continued quality performance and reporting.
2024 Award Recipients: Denise Nakano, KYW Newsradio; Jessica Kartalija, CBS News Philadelphia
Receiving the 2024 Broadcaster of the Year honors is Denise Nakano and Jessica Kartalija.
Denise Nakano is the midday anchor for KYW Newsradio, 103.9 FM and 1060 AM in Philadelphia.
Her career has spanned the country, taking her to newsrooms in Sacramento and Chico California, Syracuse and Seattle.
She joined KYW Newsradio in the Summer of 2020 from NBC10, where she anchored and reported for 17-years. Nakano has covered some of the region's biggest stories, including the deadly Market Street collapse, the Amtrak train derailment and Superstorm Sandy.
As a broadcast journalist, Nakano tells people she has the best job in the world, “It's the one job where I get to meet new people and learn something new every day,” she said.
Nakano has been recognized with the City and State PA 2023 Above and Beyond award, honoring distinguished women in Pennsylvania. She has been honored with the 2023 Impact Award from the Pan Asian Association of Greater Philadelphia, named in a list of the top 20 Midday Anchors in the U.S. by Barrett News Media, the recipient of the 2023 PA Power 100 Award, and can be seen in the movie 'Knock at the Cabin' as a newscaster.
Nakano has also received a national Edward R. Murrow Award for best documentary and recognized with eight national and regional Emmy Awards for breaking news, investigative reporting and for her coverage of the local heroin epidemic.
She has also been honored by the city of Philadelphia with a proclamation recognizing her reporting on the heroin crisis in Philadelphia.
Nakano is an active member of and previous National Board Representative of the Asian American Journalists Association.
When she is not on the air, Nakano enjoys many creative outlets including charcoal drawing, watercolor painting, making stained glass and baking.
Jessica Kartalija
Jessica Kartalija anchors the 5, 6, and 11 pm newscasts at CBS News Philadelphia.
The Emmy-award winning anchor joined the CBS Philadelphia team in the fall of 2018.
She came from CBS Baltimore, where she anchored the 5 pm news. Prior to Baltimore, she worked in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Yuma, Arizona.
Although Jessica was born and raised in San Diego, Calif., her family is originally from Pennsylvania. She graduated from The Pennsylvania State University, majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Spanish. While in college, she completed a semester abroad, living in Sevilla, Spain, and became fluent.
She has a master's degree in Communications from The Johns Hopkins University.
Jessica is very involved in the community. She is on the advisory board of Horizons Greater Philadelphia, a camp for children with cancer. She has also worked with the Special Olympics, The House of Ruth Maryland, The Women's Initiative Network (WIN) at Kennedy Krieger Institute, and was on the Board of Trustees at the Irvine Nature Center.
Viewers can see her in the HBO series Servant and House of Cards on Netflix. She was also in the movie Transformers. She also teaches a Journalism and Public Speaking courses at Villanova University.
Jessica lives with her husband and son in Radnor. They have two rescue dogs, Harper and Torrey. On weekends, you can find her on the sidelines at lacrosse games, reading, and traveling whenever she can!
