Suzanne Higgins

Suzanne Higgins is Executive Producer for West Virginia Public Broadcasting, headquartered at WSWP-TV in Beckley, and is currently the producer, host, and managing editor of The Legislature Today, the network’s nightly news program covering the West Virginia Legislature. When lawmakers are not in session, Suzanne works on multiple video projects, including her role as lead video producer for the network's Recovery project – a focus on the state's Opioid crisis with an emphasis on the many issues surrounding life in recovery.

Suzanne and editor Aaron Shackelford are winners of a 2018 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for their one-hour television and radio documentary Vietnam: West Virginians Remember, featuring the experiences of five West Virginia Vietnam combat veterans. In addition to producing, writing and narrating the film, she coordinated multiple community film screenings and led panel discussions throughout the state for the Vietnam project. Vietnam: West Virginians Remember also won the top award from the National Educational Telecommunications Association (NETA) for outstanding achievement in the Best Documentary category, a competition among PBS member stations throughout the country.

Prior to the Vietnam project, Suzanne completed her 7th season as Senior Producer of Inspiring West Virginians, a radio, television and WV Learning Media documentary series project, and produced the network’s 2016 Gubernatorial Candidates forum and Supreme Court candidates forum.

Following the devastating floods in southern West Virginia in June 2016, Suzanne led a team of reporters in delivering the Emmy-nominated one-hour television special Inside Appalachia: West Virginia’s 1000 Year Flood.

In the fall of 2016, Suzanne and fellow producer Russ Barbour won the National Educational Telecommunications Association’s (NETA) Best Documentary Award for Jay: A Rockefeller's Journey. The 2-hour film focuses on the life and half-century career of John D. Rockefeller, IV, and was distributed by NETA nationally to PBS stations.   

With the launch of the WVPB’s West Virginia Channel in January 2016, Suzanne worked with independent producers and filmmakers throughout the state, building production partnerships and broadening WVPB's program offerings for the channel.

Her past projects have included producing and hosting live television studio programs, documentaries, multiple radio series including the 5-year, award-winning Aging with Grace & Dignity series, community events and film screenings, and contributing reports to the network's ongoing news and public affairs programs. 

Suzanne is also a 2016 graduate of the Leadership West Virginia program, the recipient of the national Pew Charitable Trust’s Batten Award for Excellence in Civic Journalism, the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting, two Emmy awards, a PRNDI award, several West Virginia Associated Press Broadcasters Association awards, and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the Virginias’ Associated Press Broadcasters Association.