Harold Hayes

Harold Hayes joined KDKA-TV in August of 1979 as a general assignment reporter and has covered everything from military operations in the Middle East to landmark local court cases.

His overseas coverage includes Operation Desert Shield in Saudi Arabia in 1990, the government of Kuwait’s memorial to the local lives lost during Operation Desert Storm in 1993, and the funeral of Pope John Paul II in 2005.

Locally, Harold follows up on stories that made headlines years ago and still have impact on the community. For example, he covered the 1981 court-ordered desegregation that resulted in the merger of the Woodland Hills School District. Twenty years later, he found one of the students he interviewed then — who had become a parent of a graduate that year.

Harold is involved with many community organizations. A recipient of a scholarship from the Negro Educational Emergency Fund (NEED), Harold has since become a spokesperson for the organization and upon his mother’s death in 1994, Harold created a scholarship in her name for local students. He also helps raise money for the Rev, J. Harold Hayes Scholarship, named for his late father, former pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in McKeesport.

After graduation from college, Harold worked as a research assistant in the “Reading is Fundamental” program, sponsored by the Urban League of Pittsburgh. In 1976, he became a staff announcer for WSIV AM-FM Radio in Pekin, Illinois. The following year he took the position of weekend anchor/producer/reporter at WRAU-TV in Peoria, Illinois and worked there until accepting his present position at KDKA-TV.

Born in McKeesport, Harold went on to graduate from South Hills High School and the University of Pittsburgh in 1975 with a Bachelor’s degree in Speech and Communications. Harold spent all of his youth in the area and currently lives in Pittsburgh with his wife. His oldest daughter is a graduate of the University of Maryland and his youngest daughter is a student at Penn State.