Paula Ebben is a veteran Boston television journalist best known for her long career at WBZ-TV and CBS News Boston. For readers searching for Paula Ebben’s age, several secondary biography websites list her birth date as November 9, 1966, which would make her 59 years old as of August 10, 2026.
That figure needs an important qualification. Ebben’s official CBS News Boston biography, her Boston College profile and other authoritative institutional sources do not publish her date of birth. November 9, 1966 therefore remains a commonly reported date rather than one independently confirmed through a primary record.
What is much more firmly documented is Ebben’s professional history. Raised in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, she graduated from Boston College in 1989 and built a broadcasting career that eventually brought her to WBZ in 2002. More than two decades later, she remains one of the station’s established journalists and currently co-anchors WBZ News Mornings.
How old is Paula Ebben?
Paula Ebben is commonly reported to be 59 years old as of August 2026, based on the frequently published birth date of November 9, 1966.
The evidence for that exact birthday is weaker than the evidence for most of her professional biography. CBS News Boston does not state her age or date of birth, and neither does Boston College’s profile of her broadcasting career. Some secondary biography websites publish November 9, 1966, while others either omit her birth details or present conflicting information.
There is some circumstantial support for a mid-1960s birth year in Ebben’s documented education history. Notre Dame Academy identifies Paula Blute Ebben as a member of its Class of 1985, while Boston College identifies her with the Class of 1989. Those dates are consistent with the reported 1966 birth year, but graduation records cannot establish an exact birthday.
The most accurate approach, therefore, is to describe 59 as her commonly reported age rather than presenting November 9, 1966 as an officially verified date of birth.
From Shrewsbury to Boston College
Ebben grew up in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts, giving her longstanding personal ties to the region she would later cover as a television journalist.
Her educational record is clearer than the online claims about her birthday. Notre Dame Academy lists Paula Blute Ebben ’85, and Boston College identifies her as a member of its 1989 graduating class.
At Boston College, Ebben earned a Bachelor of Arts in English, graduating cum laude. The university has also reported that she was the youngest of 11 siblings and the sixth member of her family to attend Boston College.
Her English degree did not place her directly into one narrow professional track, but her subsequent career developed firmly within broadcast journalism. Before becoming a familiar face on Boston television, she gained experience at smaller and regional outlets.
Building a career in New England television
Before joining WBZ, Ebben worked as an anchor and reporter at WGMC-TV in Worcester and later at New England Cable News, or NECN.
Those positions formed the early professional stages of a career that became closely associated with Boston. In 2002, she joined WBZ-TV, beginning what would become a tenure of more than two decades.
Her work at the station has moved between anchoring and field reporting rather than being confined to a single newscast. She became part of WBZ’s morning programming in the 2000s, later spent years on evening broadcasts and eventually returned to mornings.
That longevity matters when assessing Ebben’s public profile. She is not principally known for a single viral report or short television assignment; her reputation has been built through sustained work covering New England and major national and international events for one of Boston’s longstanding television news organizations.
More than two decades at WBZ
Ebben’s WBZ career began in late 2002. She subsequently anchored the station’s morning news from 2004 to 2013, according to reporting about her later schedule change.
After that period, she spent more than a decade associated with evening broadcasts. Her assignments during those years also took her outside the studio, including coverage of major political, religious, international and local events.
In June 2024, WBZ announced another significant shift in its anchor lineup. Ebben returned to the morning newscast alongside Chris Tanaka, with the pairing beginning on June 17, 2024.
The move returned her to a part of the broadcast schedule she already knew well from her earlier morning-anchor years. Independent reporting from The Boston Globe, Boston.com and broadcasting trade publications documented the change.
As of August 2026, CBS continues to identify Ebben as a co-anchor of WBZ News Mornings and an anchor for the CBS News Boston streaming service. That makes her morning position the most accurate description of her current on-air role.
Major reporting assignments beyond the anchor desk
Ebben’s career has included assignments considerably broader than daily Boston newscasts.
CBS credits her with reporting from London during the 2011 wedding of Prince William and Catherine Middleton, one of the decade’s most closely watched international media events.
Her political coverage has included the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Republican national conventions in 2004 and 2016, and multiple New Hampshire presidential primaries. Those assignments placed her within major election cycles while keeping a strong connection to New England politics.
She has also reported on papal events in both Rome and the United States. Closer to home, her assignments have included Boston’s numerous championship celebrations, giving her a role in covering some of the city’s most visible public gatherings.
These assignments help explain why her professional biography extends beyond the designation of “news anchor.” Her career has combined studio presentation with reporting from significant breaking-news, political and ceremonial events.
Her role in WBZ’s award-winning Boston Marathon coverage
One of the most consequential stories of Ebben’s WBZ tenure was the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.
CBS identifies her as part of the WBZ team involved in the station’s coverage. That distinction is important because major awards associated with the reporting were awarded to the station and its broader news operation rather than to Ebben alone.
The Peabody Awards recognized WBZ-TV and WBZ NewsRadio 1030’s coverage of the Boston Marathon bombings as a 2013 winner. Columbia University’s duPont awards subsequently included WBZ-TV’s bombing coverage among its 2014 winners.
It is therefore accurate to say that Ebben was part of WBZ’s award-winning coverage. It would be misleading to simplify the record into a claim that she individually received those station-wide Peabody and duPont honors.
CBS also credits Ebben personally with other professional recognition. Her official biography says she received an Emmy connected with reporting for WBZ’s coverage of the Merrimack Valley gas explosions and a 2005 regional Edward R. Murrow Award for feature reporting.
Those honors form part of a larger record built through sustained local reporting rather than a career defined by one particular award.
A journalist whose career has remained rooted in Boston
One of the clearest themes in Ebben’s biography is the continuity between her Massachusetts upbringing and her professional career.
She grew up in Shrewsbury, attended school in Massachusetts, graduated from Boston College and worked in Worcester and at NECN before joining WBZ. Although her reporting has taken her to national political conventions, London and Rome, Boston has remained the center of her professional life.
Her official CBS biography also states that she lives in Greater Boston with her husband, Bill, and that they have four children. Beyond that basic information, her family life is not necessary to understanding her public work and is far less extensively documented than her broadcasting career.
That contrast is worth preserving. Ebben’s public significance comes primarily from journalism, not from the personal statistics and speculative financial details that often appear on unofficial biography websites.
Paula Ebben’s role at CBS News Boston today
As of August 2026, Ebben remains an active journalist with CBS News Boston.
Her current principal television assignment is as co-anchor of WBZ News Mornings with Chris Tanaka. She also anchors programming for the station’s streaming news service.
That position represents another stage in a WBZ career that began in 2002 and has encompassed morning broadcasts, evening news, major breaking stories and reporting assignments outside Massachusetts.
For viewers who remember her from earlier WBZ evening broadcasts, the 2024 schedule change explains why she is now seen prominently in the mornings. It was not a departure from the station but a move within an organization where she had already worked for more than 20 years.
Final thoughts
Paula Ebben is commonly described online as having been born on November 9, 1966, which would make her 59 years old in August 2026. Because CBS News Boston, Boston College and other authoritative sources do not publish her date of birth, that age should be treated as well-circulated but not independently verified.
Her professional record is far less ambiguous. From her Massachusetts upbringing and Boston College education to her early television work and more than two decades at WBZ, Ebben has built a substantial career in Boston broadcast journalism. She has covered presidential politics, international events, major local stories and the Boston Marathon bombing, and she remains a prominent part of CBS News Boston as a morning co-anchor in 2026.
