Thousands of people across the country dream about the prestige and excitement that comes with being a television reporter. But when the bright lights come on for the first time, many simply can’t handle it.

Heather Zara of WDIV-Local 4 feels a sense of teamwork with her sports colleagues.

WDIV-Local 4 reporter Heather Zara is not one of them, however.
“The funny thing is, I wasn’t nervous at all the first time I went on,” she said. “I just knew that was where I was meant to be.”

Whether reporting the morning traffic or chasing down popular sports figures such as new Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz during his arrival at Metro Airport in January, Zara, who grew up in Warren and is of Chaldean descent, always knew she’d end up in front of the camera and back in her hometown after a stint as a sports reporter in Maryland.

“There’s nothing like Detroit,” she said. “There’s so much going on here and the sports fans are among the best in the country.”

Zara made her mark at Michigan State University, winning an Emmy award as an anchor on “MSU & U,” a sports and entertainment program produced by students.

Becoming a sports anchor in a major city was always Zara’s main goal, and her time in Salisbury, Maryland covering Washington, D.C. and Baltimore sports gave her the first taste of being a lead sports reporter after college. But she missed her family back home as well as the chance to cover the sports teams she loved growing up.

That’s when she got a call from a friend in November 2007 that changed everything. WDIV-Local 4 was holding a search for a traffic reporter at Oakland Mall and Zara couldn’t pass the chance up, despite a behind-the-scenes television job waiting for her in Chicago.

Zara used her experience and charisma to win over the station representatives, eventually emerging victorious alongside fellow reporter Lauren Podell from a competitive field of 350 hopefuls.

Now, Zara has found a home at WDIV. She recognizes that broadcast journalism is a tough business and moving around is often necessary, but she wouldn’t rather be anywhere else.

“I could not be happier here, I love my co-workers,” she said.

“The people here don’t have egos; they have every right to think that highly of themselves but they don’t.”

While Zara enjoys reporting the traffic every morning despite the 2:15 a.m. start time, making it back to reporting full-time on sports, her true passion, is what drives her every day.

It was her other passion, dancing, that gave her the opportunity to be on the Palace floor as the Detroit Pistons clinched their 2004 NBA Championship.

After the game, Pistons guard Lindsey Hunter provided her with a moment she will never forget as a member of the Automotion dance team.

“The players were celebrating and Lindsey Hunter came up to me and gave me a fist pump and said, ‘You guys deserve this just as much as us, you really do.'”

Zara feels that same sense of teamwork with her sports colleagues at WDIV. She even got the chance to take center stage back in October for the first time when two reporters, Katrina Hancock and Steve Garigiola, were out of town.

“They asked me if I wanted to fill in and do Sports Final Edition,” she said. “To do the show I grew up watching was awesome. It wasn’t the first time I’ve anchored but it was my first time ever in Detroit so that was cool.”

Since then, Zara continues to find work in both departments. She’s proud to represent not just her home town, but also her Chaldean roots.

“It’s always a good thing to have more media people represent the Middle Eastern culture,” she said.

“There is a lot of media coverage out there that is unfortunately negative. And I love my job because I get to do something different every single day.”