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For more than 30 years, John Kiesewetter has been the source for information about all things in local media — comings and goings, local people appearing on the big or small screen, special programs, and much more. Contact John at johnkiese@yahoo.com.

Chad Pergram Named Fox News Congressional Correspondent

Courtesy Fox News Channel
Former WMUB and WKRC reporter Chad Pergram joined Fox News in 2007.

Former WKRC and WMUB reporter Chad Pergram has been promoted by the Fox News Channel from Capitol Hill producer to congressional correspondent.

The Butler County native joined Fox News in 2007 from the Capitol News Connection.

The 1993 Miami University graduate also is the Washington, D.C.-based director of Miami's Inside Washington Program.

"Chad's enterprise reporting skills and deep sources throughout the halls of Congress have made him a tremendous asset to our news division," said Byan Boughton, Fox News senior vice president and Washington bureau chief, in a news release. "As we enter another election year, we look forward to his continued contributions, delivering key insights during this critical time on Capitol Hill."

"2020 is already shaping up to be an unprecedented news year in Congress. I am thrilled to take on this new role, providing live, behind-the-scenes reporting on the latest developments across all our Fox News platforms," Pergram said in the release.

Pergram was born in the tiny village of Jacksonburg, west of Middletown, and earned undergraduate and master's degrees at Miami. He started his career as a reporter at WKRC-AM and WKRC-TV, before joining WMUB-FM in Oxford. In 1992, he was named Best Radio Reporter by the Ohio Associated Press.

He later was a producer and news anchor at National Public Radio in Washington, and a Senate producer for C-SPAN, before reporting for the Capitol News Connection. According to Miami, @ChadPergramwas "the most-followed journalist on Twitter by members of Congress" in 2017.

From Fox: "Throughout his tenure at FNC, Pergram has covered a range of historical moments from Capitol Hill, including the 2010 and 2018 midterm elections, Justice Brett Kavanaugh and Justice Neil Gorsuch’s confirmation hearings, the 2016 presidential election cycle, and various legislative hallmarks and showdowns, including the 2010 passage of both the Affordable Care Act and Dodd-Frank Wall Street reform, the 2011 debt-ceiling fight, tax reform in 2017, as well as the 2018-2019 government shutdown, the longest in U.S. history.

"In 2017, just blocks from Pergram’s residence in Alexandria, Virginia, a gunman opened fire at a baseball practice for Republican members of Congress ahead of the annual Congressional game, critically wounding then-House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) and injuring several others. Pergram led the breaking news coverage and followed the story throughout Scalise’s recovery."

Pergram also "was the first journalist to confirm the death of Osama bin Laden on the air in May 2011," according to his Miami biography.

In 2006, the Radio/Television Correspondents Association (RTCA) saluted Pergram with the Joan S. Barone Award for Excellence in National Affairs/Public Policy Broadcast Journalism. He was the youngest recipient of the award and was the first radio reporter to be honored in 12 years, according to his Miami biography. He also won an Edward R. Murrow Award for Excellence In Reporting in 2007 for a story detailing the final days in Congress of former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas). 

An avid hockey fan, Pergram also has been a pre-game, in-game and post-game host for the Washington Capitals Radio Network.

John Kiesewetter, who has covered television and media for more than 35 years, has been working for Cincinnati Public Radio and WVXU-FM since 2015.