Veteran New York investigative reporter Sarah Wallace is looking for a new home after WNBC eliminated her job in a cost-cutting move — and she insists she isn’t ready to hang up her notebook.
Wallace, who spent about 11 years at NBC 4 after a three-decade run at rival WABC, said the Peacock station decided not to renew her contract and eliminated her investigative reporter position for financial reasons.
When reached by The Post on Friday, the longtime television personality said that the station’s decision was unexpected.
“It was a surprise,” she said. “I will say that, and I’m disappointed, but I think … the landscape is changing, and I’m excited about what’s to come.
In announcing her departure Aug. 28, Wallace made a point to state: “No, I’m not retiring.”
The longtime crime and corruption reporter said she is now searching for “the right platform” to continue her investigative work.
According to an internal WNBC memo obtained by The Post and confirmed by a station spokesperson, management told staff that the decision not to renew Wallace’s contract and eliminate her position was tied to “long-term financial planning.”
The move “was very difficult, but also necessary as we look at our long-term financial planning,” WNBC General Manager Eric Lerner wrote in the Aug. 21 memo.
He praised Wallace as “a remarkable reporter and a terrific person,” citing her work on major Tri-State stories and investigations that, he wrote, “resulted in the exonerations of several wrongfully convicted men.”
In a note included in the same memo, Wallace called investigative reporting “my life’s passion” and thanked colleagues across the station for more than a decade of work together.
“We helped shed light on injustice — and brought justice to where it was long overdue,” she said.
“Our work literally transformed lives, and we can all take great pride in this.”
Her exit prompted a warm sendoff from former WABC colleague Nina Pineda, who recalled sharing an office with Wallace before she jumped to Channel 4 in 2015.
“Now then people (I hope) still value the actual journalism you consistently delivered: Hard-hitting, rock-turning, speaking-truth-to-power accountability, giving voice-to-the-silenced kind of stories,” Pineda wrote in a Facebook post.
Pineda added that Wallace is “a class act to be lauded” and predicted the veteran reporter wouldn’t stay sidelined for long.
The journo’s exit caps a New York television career stretching back more than four decades.
She began reporting in the Big Apple in October 1984 and spent more than 30 years at WABC, where she was initially a consumer and investigative reporter and later anchored weekend newscasts for six years.
Wallace joined WABC’s investigative unit in 1998 and was identified as the station’s chief investigative correspondent by 2001.
Among her most consequential investigations was her reporting on Anthony Faison and Charles Shepherd, two Brooklyn men imprisoned for a 1987 murder.
Evidence uncovered by Wallace and private investigator Michael Race helped lead to their release in May 2001 after roughly 13 years behind bars.
Wallace’s long tenure at WABC ended abruptly in February 2015.
News from me: I’m not retiring! While WBNC and I have parted ways, I am still committed to telling investigative stories. More on my plans to come. pic.twitter.com/FDlaoKmO1l
— Sarah Wallace (@TVSarahWallace) August 28, 2026
She later sued the station, alleging gender and pay discrimination and claiming her dismissal came after she developed information raising questions about a murder conviction.
WABC denied the allegations, calling them baseless. Wallace subsequently dropped the lawsuit in January 2016, though an arbitrator ruled in her favor.
Wallace declined to state how much she received as a result of the arbitrator’s decision.
By then, Wallace had landed across town.
WNBC announced in August 2015 that she was joining its I-Team, where her investigations continued to produce fallout well beyond the newsroom.
The veteran reporter has won at least 19 Emmy Awards along with a Peabody Award and two Edward R. Murrow Awards.
The Post has sought comment from WNBC.
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