Hannah Kliger is an award winning television reporter and multimedia journalist with CBS News New York, where her reporting focuses heavily on Brooklyn. A native New Yorker raised in Coney Island, Kliger has built her career covering local communities, investigative stories, consumer problems, crime, housing, public safety, and the everyday people who shape New York City.
Her professional path includes more than a decade in journalism, six years at News 12, investigative reporting, work connected with CBS News programs, and recognition from major journalism organizations. In 2026, the New York Press Club named Kliger a winner of its Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award in the television category.
Who Is Hannah Kliger?
Hannah Kliger is a New York City journalist and television reporter for CBS News New York. She joined the CBS New York reporting team in May 2022 and is particularly associated with coverage of Brooklyn, the borough where she was born and raised.
Kliger’s connection to Brooklyn is more than a newsroom assignment. CBS News identifies her as a native New Yorker who was born in Coney Island, Brooklyn. That background gives her career an unusually strong connection between the place she covers and the community where she grew up.
Before joining CBS News New York, Kliger spent six years at News 12 Brooklyn. She worked first as a general assignment reporter and later became part of the News 12 investigative team.
Her reporting has addressed subjects ranging from hate crimes and rental scams to transportation, schools, housing, neighborhood development, public safety, community organizations, and local residents.
Kliger is also a multimedia journalist. Her professional biography states that her work can involve pitching stories, researching them, shooting video, writing scripts, and editing reports. That combination reflects the modern local television newsroom, where reporters often work across several parts of the production process.
As of 2026, CBS News New York continues to publish her reporting, making her an active figure in New York City local journalism rather than simply a journalist known for earlier work.
Where Does Hannah Kliger Work?
Hannah Kliger works as a reporter with CBS News New York, also associated with WCBS. She joined the organization in May 2022 and has developed a reporting focus centered on Brooklyn and stories affecting New York City communities.
CBS News New York’s official biography confirms May 2022 as the start of Kliger’s tenure with the station.
Her role fits naturally with her professional background. She had already accumulated years of experience reporting on Brooklyn before joining CBS, so the move allowed her to continue covering a community she knew closely while working within a major network owned local news operation.
Her recent CBS reporting illustrates the breadth of local television journalism. Her CBS author archive includes stories involving Brooklyn schools, transportation, neighborhood projects, cultural events, public services, community programs, environmental issues, and residents facing practical problems.
Local reporting can look deceptively simple from the living room sofa. In practice, one neighborhood story may require interviews, public records, field reporting, verification, video production, writing, and quick adaptation as facts change.
Kliger’s career is particularly rooted in that kind of reporting.
Hannah Kliger’s professional identity is closely connected to Brooklyn because she reports on the borough not simply as an assignment, but as her hometown.
What Did Hannah Kliger Do Before CBS News New York?
Before joining CBS News New York in 2022, Hannah Kliger spent six years at News 12, working as both a general assignment reporter and an investigative journalist. Earlier in her career, she also worked as an associate producer at the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
News 12 gave Kliger substantial experience in local and investigative television journalism.
Her earlier professional materials describe work as both a reporter and producer for News 12 Brooklyn and the Bronx. The role required her to cover hyperlocal stories as well as broader city, national, and international developments relevant to local audiences.
She eventually joined the News 12 investigative operation. One of the most notable projects associated with that period was the network’s “Hate at Home” reporting.
News 12’s project credits identify Kliger as a reporter, editor, and photographer on its Brooklyn special report. New York Emmy records also list Kliger among the investigative reporters involved with “Hate at Home: A Year of Intolerance.”
Before News 12, Kliger worked as an associate producer for NYC Media at the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment. Her professional biography says the position included editorial decision making, pitching segment ideas, managing video, and preparing rough cuts for editors.
That production background matters because television journalism is both reporting and visual storytelling. Knowing how a story will ultimately be assembled can influence how a journalist gathers material in the field.
Where Did Hannah Kliger Go to College?
Hannah Kliger attended New York University and graduated with honors in 2015. She studied Broadcast Journalism and Political Science, two fields that closely match the reporting and public affairs work that later defined her career.
Her professional resume identifies two Bachelor of Arts fields at New York University: Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. The resume also states that she graduated cum laude in the class of 2015.
While attending NYU, Kliger anchored and produced the student newscast NYU Tonight, according to her professional biography.
Her college years also included several media internships that exposed her to different forms of television journalism.
Kliger interned with CBS’s “60 Minutes,” MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” and NY1’s “Inside City Hall.” Her biography describes her “60 Minutes” experience as particularly influential.
During that internship, Kliger contributed to work surrounding the “Hidden Holocaust” report. According to her professional biography, she translated hours of testimony from Russian into English involving witnesses who had experienced Holocaust atrocities in villages across Moldova.
Kliger also worked in radio during her college years, contributing on air at Thunder 102 in New York’s Catskills region.
Taken together, those experiences exposed her to investigative television, political coverage, live programming, radio, local news, and production before she began her full time reporting career.
What Awards Has Hannah Kliger Won?
Hannah Kliger’s journalism has received recognition from organizations including the New York Press Club, the New York chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, the Radio Television Digital News Association, and the Associated Press. Her latest major recognition came from the New York Press Club in 2026.
The New York Press Club named Hannah Kliger the 2026 television winner of the Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award for her CBS News New York story “Charlie’s Ripples of Kindness.”
The award is particularly notable because the New York Press Club reported that its 2026 competition received almost 600 entries from television, radio, newspapers, magazines, websites, and newswires across New York City and the United States.
That was not Kliger’s first New York Press Club recognition.
In the organization’s 2022 journalism awards, “Team 12 Investigates: Web of Lies” won in the Consumer Reporting, TV category. The winning team included Hannah Kliger, Jose Sanchez, Aime Rodriguez, and Pratik Parija.
Kliger’s professional resume also lists an RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for large market television continuing coverage, an Associated Press first place award connected with “Hate at Home,” and a New York NATAS Emmy Award associated with community service reporting on “Hate at Home.”
Her professional website currently describes more than 7 journalism awards, more than 3,000 stories reported, and more than 200 newscasts produced.
Those figures provide useful context. Awards represent selected pieces of work, but thousands of reported stories demonstrate the volume and consistency required to build a long career in local television.
What Was Hannah Kliger’s Role in the “Hate at Home” Investigation?
Hannah Kliger was one of the journalists who worked on News 12’s “Hate at Home” reporting, an investigative project examining hate, intolerance, and related incidents. Her work on the series contributed to journalism awards and professional recognition.
News 12’s project credits identify Kliger as a reporter, editor, and photographer for its Brooklyn special report.
Official New York Emmy documentation also lists Kliger as an investigative reporter on “Hate at Home: A Year of Intolerance,” alongside a larger News 12 investigative and production team.
The project is important when examining Kliger’s career because it demonstrates her move beyond daily general assignment reporting into longer form investigative work.
Investigative television reporting can require considerably more preparation than a routine daily news assignment. Journalists may need to locate records, verify claims, identify patterns, conduct sensitive interviews, and translate complicated evidence into a concise broadcast story.
Kliger’s work on “Hate at Home” became one of the defining projects of her News 12 period and remains prominently identified in her professional biography.
What Is Hannah Kliger’s Family Background?
Hannah Kliger was born in Brooklyn to a family of Soviet dissidents from Russia who fled persecution and censorship. She grew up in Coney Island and speaks fluent Russian, giving her personal and linguistic connections to New York City’s communities from the former Soviet Union.
CBS News New York specifically describes Kliger’s parents as Soviet dissidents who fled persecution and censorship.
Her family history also connects with an important part of her early journalism experience. During her internship at “60 Minutes,” her Russian language ability allowed her to translate testimony related to Holocaust reporting.
Kliger’s professional materials state that she has deep ties to immigrant communities from the former Soviet Union living in New York City.
Language ability can have practical value in local reporting. New York journalists routinely cover communities in which cultural knowledge and language access can affect who is willing to speak, how accurately experiences are understood, and whether important details survive translation.
Kliger’s current professional resume lists English and Russian as fluent languages. It also lists working proficiency in Ukrainian and Italian.
How Did Hannah Kliger Become Interested in Journalism?
Hannah Kliger’s interest in journalism began when she was young and developed while she was growing up in Brooklyn. She later studied broadcasting at Edward R. Murrow High School before pursuing journalism professionally at New York University.
CBS News says Kliger decided that she wanted to become a journalist from an early age and remembers closely following major television news stories as a child.
Her earlier biography provides additional context. At Edward R. Murrow High School in Brooklyn, she took broadcasting classes and wrote for school publications.
Experiencing major New York events also reinforced that interest. Her early professional biography specifically mentions Hurricane Sandy and Coney Island coverage as experiences that helped confirm her desire to work in news.
From there, the progression became increasingly practical: broadcasting classes, student journalism, an NYU journalism education, internships, production experience, News 12 reporting, investigative work, and eventually CBS News New York.
The path was not an overnight leap into a network newsroom. It was built through a series of increasingly demanding roles.
What Kind of Stories Does Hannah Kliger Cover?
Hannah Kliger covers a broad mix of Brooklyn and New York City stories, including community affairs, consumer problems, housing, public safety, transportation, schools, crime, cultural stories, neighborhood development, and investigative subjects.
CBS News describes her reporting as focused on Brooklyn, but that geographic focus contains a wide variety of subjects.
Her published work has examined practical issues affecting residents as well as stories built around individual New Yorkers. That combination is characteristic of strong local journalism because city news is rarely just about institutions. It is often about how decisions made by agencies, schools, businesses, landlords, or elected officials affect people at street level.
Kliger’s investigative background also shapes her reporting profile. CBS highlights previous work involving housing rental scams and hate crimes, while her award history includes consumer reporting and longer investigative projects.
At the same time, her 2026 New York Press Club recognition for “Charlie’s Ripples of Kindness” shows another side of community journalism.
Kliger’s body of work combines accountability reporting with stories about the people and communities that give Brooklyn its identity.
What Makes Hannah Kliger’s Brooklyn Connection Significant?
Hannah Kliger’s Brooklyn connection is unusually direct: she was born in Coney Island, grew up in the borough, worked for News 12 Brooklyn, and later became a CBS News New York reporter with a major focus on Brooklyn coverage.
That continuity has followed Kliger through much of her life and career.
Brooklyn is not a small reporting beat. According to the United States Census Bureau, the borough had more than 2.7 million residents in the 2020 Census, making it more populous than many American cities and states.
A borough of that scale contains hundreds of communities, institutions, cultural identities, businesses, schools, political issues, transportation concerns, and neighborhood disputes.
A reporter covering Brooklyn therefore needs more than familiarity with a map. Understanding the borough requires attention to differences between neighborhoods and communities that can sit only a few subway stops apart.
Kliger’s background in Coney Island and years of Brooklyn reporting provide a clear foundation for that work.
What Else Is Known About Hannah Kliger Outside Journalism?
Outside journalism, Hannah Kliger has a background in competitive ballroom dance and became a national champion at age 16. Her professional biographies also mention interests including gardening, skiing, figure skating, music, and theater.
The ballroom dance achievement is one of the more distinctive facts in her biography. CBS News confirms that Kliger became a national champion in competitive ballroom dancing when she was 16.
Her own professional biography says she traveled around the country for competitions, taught both children and adults, and performed in dozens of shows.
Kliger also studied musical theater at Edward R. Murrow High School and appeared in theatrical productions.
Her biography lists gardening, playing musical instruments, figure skating, and skiing among her interests.
These details may sit outside the standard reporter resume, but they help explain a career that depends heavily on performance under pressure, communication, presentation, and comfort in front of an audience. Years of ballroom competition are certainly one way to become comfortable when all eyes are on you.
What Is Hannah Kliger Doing in 2026?
As of 2026, Hannah Kliger remains an active CBS News New York reporter covering Brooklyn and New York City stories. Her current work continues to appear through CBS, and the New York Press Club recognized her reporting with a major journalism award in 2026.
CBS News continues to maintain an active reporter profile and archive for Kliger, with current Brooklyn reporting appearing under her name.
The strongest recent career milestone is her New York Press Club recognition.
The organization selected “Charlie’s Ripples of Kindness” as the 2026 television recipient of the Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award. The honor adds to a career already associated with investigative, consumer, community, and local reporting.
Her career also now spans more than a decade when internships, production work, local television, investigative journalism, and CBS reporting are considered together.
That progression shows a consistent theme: New York City has remained at the center of Kliger’s professional work.
Hannah Kliger’s Career at a Glance
Hannah Kliger’s career combines New York roots, formal journalism education, newsroom production experience, investigative reporting, multimedia skills, and more than a decade of work in television journalism.
She graduated cum laude from New York University in 2015 after studying Broadcast Journalism and Political Science. Her early experience included “60 Minutes,” “Morning Joe,” NY1, radio work, and the New York City Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment.
Kliger then spent six years at News 12 before joining CBS News New York in May 2022.
Her professional materials report more than 3,000 stories, more than 200 produced newscasts, and more than seven journalism awards. Her honors include recognition connected with the New York Press Club, New York NATAS, the Associated Press, and RTDNA.
In 2026, the New York Press Club added another major recognition to that record for her community focused television reporting.
Hannah Kliger is best understood as a Brooklyn rooted television journalist whose career combines daily local reporting with investigative and community storytelling.
Frequently Asked Questions About Hannah Kliger
Who is Hannah Kliger?
Hannah Kliger is an award winning television journalist and multimedia reporter with CBS News New York. Her reporting focuses heavily on Brooklyn and New York City communities.
Is Hannah Kliger a CBS reporter?
Yes. Hannah Kliger joined CBS News New York in May 2022 after spending six years at News 12, where she worked in general assignment and investigative reporting.
Where is Hannah Kliger from?
Hannah Kliger is a native New Yorker who was born and raised in Coney Island, Brooklyn. CBS News says her family came from Russia after her parents fled Soviet persecution and censorship.
Where did Hannah Kliger go to college?
Hannah Kliger attended New York University and graduated cum laude in 2015. She studied Broadcast Journalism and Political Science.
Has Hannah Kliger won journalism awards?
Yes. Her professional record includes recognition from the New York Press Club, New York NATAS, the Associated Press, and RTDNA. In 2026, the New York Press Club honored her “Charlie’s Ripples of Kindness” report with its Rev. Mychal Judge Heart of New York Award in television.
