ST. LOUIS – There is a new face in the FOX 2 newsroom, and there is a lot more to her own story than viewers may see on their television. Caroline Pettey is bringing experience from the south and east coast to share the stories of the St. Louis community.
As a native of Alabama, Pettey attended Auburn University and graduated with a broadcast journalism degree. She has worked with other stations in Atlanta and in South Dakota, where she covered sports, reported on investigative pieces, and anchored.
However, her journey hasn’t always been on the path of journalism.
During college, Pettey competed in pageants to help pay for school. While she took a break, she thought to herself, “Why not?” one more time before she aged out of competitions and auditioned for Miss South Dakota, which is the title she held in 2021.
“All in all, I did love my time as Miss South Dakota. I was able to serve the state and travel the country, and it ended up leading me to an opportunity in New York,” she said.
That opportunity was as an event planner, which eventually carried over to Washington, D.C., too, where she spent two and a half years working with companies such as Netflix, the Smithsonian, and more.
Throughout her time working on the east coast, she completed some freelancing when she could. Soon enough, Pettey found herself searching for journalism jobs again. With personal ties to St. Louis, she knew this was the city she wanted to take on next, and for a while.
“I was kind of burnt out of event planning, and I wanted to get back into journalism because I enjoyed it so much,” she said. “(But) I was so glad I did that and got to experience big cities and our nation’s capital.”
Despite the fear in the back of her head about coming back to journalism after a long break away from the camera, she began applying for jobs in St. Louis. The next thing she knew, she received a job offer from FOX 2.
“It’s fun for me to be able to write the stories again, get to know the community again, be out of a seat all night,” Pettey shared. “I love the happier pieces. I do love investigative stuff… (and) we do need to cover the hard stuff, but it’s good to be like, ‘There is good in the world.’”
When Pettey isn’t in the newsroom, she can be found doing the usual: taking walks, reading, and skydiving.
That’s right—one of her hobbies is being a certified skydiver.
“I love extreme sports…I haven’t (gone skydiving) in like a year, but it’s awesome,” Pettey said. “I’m bummed that reporters can’t go in (SkyFOX) because I’m like, ‘Put me in coach!’”
With the excitement of joining the FOX 2 team, she is equally excited to venture into her new city and check off items on her bucket list, from visiting the Arch to going to a Cardinals game and everything in between.
“I’ve looked up to some of these people for a few years, so it’s exciting to be working right beside them,” Pettey said. “Everything I have experienced (in St. Louis) I’ve loved, and so I know I’m just going to have so much fun.”
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