Emmy Award-winning journalist Craig Fiegener will join the station as a General Assignment Reporter for the Inland Empire starting Monday, September 26. In this role, Fiegener will report on stories originating from Riverside and San Bernardino counties and be headquartered at NBC4’s Inland Empire Bureau, located in North East Riverside.
“Craig is the perfect combination of broadcast and web journalist, who has been covering the Inland Empire since 2006,” said Vickie Burns, vice president of news at NBC4. “This, along with his award-winning on-air reporting experience, make him the perfect choice to spearhead the station’s Inland Empire coverage.”
Fiegener previously served as Publisher and Editor of InstantRiverside.com, a local news website that covers the Inland Empire, which he helped establish in 2006. During this time, he covered the Inland Empire with an interactive approach, employing the area’s residents to collaborate in the coverage by submitting videos, stills and information about local stories.
Fiegener’s roots in the Inland Empire stem four generations deep. He began his broadcasting career at the age of 14, when he joined KMAY-AM. After graduating from high school, Fiegener helped launch “Riverside in Review,” the city’s first weekly newscast which was broadcast locally on cable television. His work on the program was noticed by the Palm Springs affiliate KESQ-TV and in 1992 Fiegener went to work for that station as a General Assignment Reporter. One year later, he would become KFI-AM 640’s first Inland Empire reporter.
From 1996 to 2002, Fiegener served as a General Assignment reporter for KFSN-TV, the ABC owned-and-operated station in Fresno, CA. During his tenure there, he reported for the station’s top-rated morning newscast and launched a consumer watch series for which he served as both producer and reporter. For his work with KFSN-TV, Fiegener was honored with a number of awards, including a local area Emmy for Best Investigative Reporting. He was twice-honored as “Reporter of the Year” by the Associated Press Television and Radio Association. The same organization also recognized him twice in the category of “Best Consumer Reporter.” He later served as the Inland Empire’s bureau reporter for KCBS-TV from 2002 to 2006.
An Inland Empire native, Fiegener attended California Southern Law School after graduating from John W. North High School. He currently resides in Riverside.
