PBMF Mourns the Passing of Pioneering Journalist Elaine Effort

For 38 years, Elaine Effort, a trailblazing reporter with the former all-news radio station KQV (1410), covered it all: crime, community celebrations, politicians, artists. She retired from the station in 2017 but continued to work with other local radio outlets, focusing on stories about African American lives.

Effort, a charter member of the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation (PBMF), unexpectedly passed away at Presbyterian Hospital on Nov. 6, 2024.

The Detroit native was one of the first Black female journalists at KQV and, during her time there, she also hosted “Pittsburgh Profiles,” a weekend show that featured interviews with prominent local figures and individuals whom she called “the unsung heroes.”

Effort had a pleasant, measured voice and was known for her probing award-winning journalism. In 2017, Pittsburgh City Council honored Effort with a proclamation, naming Dec. 28, 2017, Elaine Effort Day in the City of Pittsburgh. She was also the winner of multiple Golden Quills from the Press Club of Western Pennsylvania and PBMF’s Robert L. Vann awards, achievements noting her excellence in journalism. Additionally, PBMF honored her with its Legacy Award in recognition of her longstanding contribution to advocating for Black journalists and her career achievements.

Effort joined the Pittsburgh Black Media Federation in 1973 as a founding member. From 1984 to 1989, she served in various leadership roles, including as vice president, secretary and treasurer. Her insights, compassion, and leadership in running a nonprofit helped the organization to always move forward.

For more than 30 years, Effort often volunteered as an instructor with PBMF’s annual Frank Bolden Urban Journalism Workshop for teenagers.

“Mrs. Effort was always willing to listen to new ideas and roll up her sleeve to make them work for PBMF,” said Ervin Dyer, current treasurer and a former president of PBMF. “She was supportive, and her range of community connections were a positive for the organization,”

PBMF president Deborah Todd was a high school student in the Frank Bolden Journalism Workshop when she met Effort.

“She was incredible with young people,” Todd said. “She was patient and kind, but she was also strict and held us accountable to doing our best and preparing us to be capable journalists. I admired and respected her.”

Effort earned a bachelor’s and a master’s degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and soon moved to Pittsburgh to join KQV, where she built a tenure spanning nearly four decades. For a while, Effort also did TV, hosting a weekly public affairs show on WPGH, called

“In Focus.” She would also, on occasion, substitute for Chris Moore as a guest host of WQED’s “Black Horizon,” when he was away from the station.

In an interview with the New Pittsburgh Courier in 2017, Effort described herself as a newsperson who loves radio.

“The work has been its own reward. I have loved it, I have no regrets, I have no complaints,” she said.

Brian Cook, PBMF’s immediate past president, remembered Effort as “an incredible mentor”

during his early days as a young journalist.

“We both worked in radio simultaneously, and our professional kinship grew while she was at 1410-AM KQV and I was at the American Urban Radio Networks,” he said. “She helped guide me with her wealth of knowledge and experience in the industry. She always encouraged me to find my voice and pursue stories that mattered, instilling the confidence to tackle challenging subjects.”

Effort is survived by her husband, dentist Edmund Effort; a son, Edmundson, a daughter, April;

and two grandchildren.