TV Talk: Future WTAE reporter hit by a car live on the air

Local TV news reporter Tori Yorgey will begin her new job at Pittsburgh’s WTAE-TV in February, but her last week on the job at WSAZ-TV in Huntington, W.Va., has been eventful: She was struck by a car during a live broadcast and continued reporting, becoming a viral sensation on Twitter late Wednesday night.

In a live shot at 11:04 p.m. Wednesday during WSAZ’s late newscast, Yorgey was set to report on a water main break in Dunbar, W.Va., when a vehicle sideswiped her and she fell out of camera view.

“Oh, my gosh, I just got hit by a car,” Yorgey said off-camera. She then told the anchor in the studio, “but I’m OK, Tim.”

"We're good, Tim." pic.twitter.com/9kn2YElDLK

— Timothy Burke (@bubbaprog) January 20, 2022

Anchor Tim Irr, who happens to be a graduate of North Allegheny and Duquesne University, responded, “Well, that’s a first for you on TV, Tori.”

The vehicle’s driver can be heard off-camera stopping to check on Yorgey.

“That’s live TV for ya, it’s all good,” Yorgey said. “I also got hit by a car in college, too, just like that.”

As the driver checked on Yorgey, she consoled the driver, “Ma’am, you are so sweet and you are OK. It is all good.

“You know this is my last week on the job, and I would think this would happen,” Yorgey added.

Irr asked where the car hit her, and Yorgey gamely tried to get an answer to his question, apparently asking bystanders, “Do you know if I was bumped down low or up high? I don’t even know, Tim. My whole life just flashed before my eyes.”

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It appeared Yorgey was working as a one-person operation, reporting and serving as her own camera operator, a common-but-controversial practice in some — often smaller — media markets. due to safety concerns about incidents similar to what Yorgey experienced (Charleston-Huntington ranks as the 77th largest media market in the U.S., per Nielsen; Pittsburgh is No. 26).

Thursday evening, Yorgey tweeted that she was “feeling fine, just a little sore!”

“Wow. I am flattered by the kindness and well wishes,” she wrote on Twitter.

Wow. I am flattered by the kindness and well wishes. I am feeling fine, just a little sore! Thank you all so much.

For the record: @WSAZirr couldn’t see what was happening in that moment. He is one of the kindest people I know, and was first to call to check on me. pic.twitter.com/kusuDnEvfG

— Tori Yorgey (@toriyorgeytv) January 20, 2022

A Philadelphia-area native, Yorgey is a 2018 graduate of Penn State University and will work as a general assignment reporter at WTAE.

Irr spent some time at WTAE, as his LinkedIn bio shows. He was an assignment editor at the station from 1991-92. He also worked as a media relations manager at Shadyside Hospital for three years.

.@NBCNightlyNews talks to the reporter hit by a car while live on air: "I thought I was getting run over in that moment and it was really, really scary." Watch tonight (Thursday) at 6:30 on WBAL-TV 11. pic.twitter.com/znQbKiRMOj

— WBAL-TV 11 Baltimore (@wbaltv11) January 20, 2022