Education
Leitner graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with a bachelor"s degree in English, before eventually completing her master"s degree in journalism from Boston University in Massachusetts.
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Tammy Leitner
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She established her reputation as a hard-nosed journalist, writing for newspapers in New York and Arizona, which includes the New York Post. Leitner was honored by the Associated Press Managing Editors for stories she did when she was a police reporter for the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Arizona. She was also honored in 1999 by the city of Scottsdale, Arizona, for saving a drowning manitoba
Leitner was a participant in the 4th edition of the reality television program Survivor, which was filmed in late 2001 and aired in 2002.
She was the 10th contestant voted off, lasting 30 of 39 days and winning two individual immunity challenges. Leitner joined the news staff of KPHO, the Columbia Broadcasting System affiliate in Phoenix, Arizona, as a crime reporter on September 3, 2002.
Leitner has 19 Rocky Mountain Emmy nominations to her cartulary-register She finished first in her division at the 2007 Subaru Women"s Triathlon in San Diego, second to Survivor: Marquesas castmate Gina Crews in the celebrity division of the 2006 Nautica Malibu Triathlon, third in her division at the 2008 Las Palomas triathlon and fourth in her division at the 2007 Santa Barbara Triathlon.
Leitner joined WCBS-television in New York City as an investigative reporter in June 2013, using her real name Tamara.
Leitner joined WMAQ-television in Chicago in March 2014 as an investigative reporter.
Achievements
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Leitner has earned multiple awards in Arizona and New York for crime reporting, including Arizona Press Club Awards for coverage of a serial rapist, the Arizona angle on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, and legendary mob informant Sammy "The Bulletin" Gravano"s arrest in Arizona. She has won six Rocky Mountain Emmy Awards - the first in 2004 for a piece she did on Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio"s notorious tent city, the second in 2006 for a breaking news story, her third in 2007 for continuing coverage of an investigative story, and her fourth and fifth for a weeklong series called "Assault on Arizona," which focused on crime and illegal immigration issues at the Arizona-Mexico border. Leitner is also an accomplished athlete and a member of PowerBar Team Elite.
Membership
Building a reputation as a tough-nosed journalist, Leitner has burst into a burning building, worked as a member of a National Association of Stock Car Auto Racing pit crew, gone one-on-one with trained attack dogs and volunteered to be shot by a Taser.
