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Liz Collin (American Journalist)
Liz Collin, age 44, is a multi-Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, news anchor, and author born on July 10, 1982, in Worthington, Minnesota. Over a career spanning more than two decades, she has built a reputation as one of Minnesota’s most tenacious and recognized reporters — one whose work has not only won awards but has directly shaped public policy.
She spent nearly 14 years at WCCO-TV, the CBS affiliate serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul area, joining the station in 2008. Her reporting there was anything but routine. A story about a young girl who choked to death at a Mankato daycare led directly to new legislation requiring more trained CPR staff at childcare centers across the state. Coverage of dangerously long 911 hold times pushed Minneapolis to hire additional dispatchers. These were not just stories — they were catalysts for change.
In January 2022, Collin left WCCO and joined Alpha News in Minneapolis the following month, continuing her investigative work in a new environment. She has since produced the documentary film The Fall of Minneapolis, authored the Amazon best-selling book They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd, and hosts the Liz Collin Reports podcast, which has grown into a significant platform for Minnesota journalism.
| Full Name | Elizabeth Collin (birth name); Liz Collin (professional name) |
| Date of Birth | July 10, 1982 |
| Place of Birth | Worthington, Minnesota, United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Ethnicity | White-American |
| Zodiac Sign | Cancer |
| Profession | Investigative Journalist, News Anchor, Author, Documentary Producer |
| Current Employer | Alpha News, Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Current Role | Senior Investigative Reporter; Host, Liz Collin Reports Podcast |
| Previous Employer | WCCO-TV (CBS affiliate, Minneapolis/St. Paul) — 2008 to 2022 |
| Education | Worthington High School (graduated 2000); Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale — 18-month Broadcast Journalism Program |
| Career Start | Trojan News (age 15, while in high school); KWOA Radio, Worthington, Minnesota (broadcast debut) |
| Notable Work | George Floyd coverage; Minneapolis police policy reporting; Minnesota public safety investigations; COVID-19 pandemic healthcare reporting; documentary films The Fall of Minneapolis (2023) and Minnesota v We the People |
| Book | They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd (Amazon best-seller; co-authored with Dr. JC Chaix) |
| Awards | Multiple Emmy Awards; Regional Edward R. Murrow Award (Radio-Television News Directors Association); D. Tennant Bryan Award |
| First Husband | Joe Sheeran (fellow journalist; married 2004; later divorced) |
| Current Husband | Bob Kroll (retired Minneapolis police lieutenant and former president, Minneapolis Police Officers Federation; married November 2019) |
| Children | One son — Anthony Donald (born 2012; from first marriage to Joe Sheeran) |
| Siblings | Not publicly available |
| Residence | Suburbs of the Twin Cities, Minnesota, United States |
| Estimated Net Worth | $500,000 – $1 million (estimated; not officially confirmed) |
| Estimated Salary | $75,556 – $97,994 annually (third-party estimate based on WCCO tenure; not officially confirmed) |
Who is Liz Collin?
Liz Collin is an American multi-Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist, anchor, and author born on July 10, 1982, in Worthington, Minnesota. She currently serves as a senior reporter at Alpha News in Minneapolis and is the author of the Amazon best-selling book They’re Lying.
Early Life and Education
Liz Collin was born on July 10, 1982, in Worthington, Minnesota — a small city in the southwestern corner of the state where she would spend her entire childhood and take her first steps toward a career in journalism.
Childhood and Family Background
Worthington shaped Liz Collin in ways that would prove lasting. She grew up in the city as a Minnesota native, and even as a child, her interest in storytelling was already evident. At the age of 10, she launched a neighborhood newspaper with friends and sold copies for 15 cents — an early venture that caught the attention of the Daily Globe and WCCO radio at the time.
By the age of 15, while still a high school student, she had already begun contributing to Trojan News, gaining hands-on experience in basic reporting long before most of her peers had considered a career path. According to multiple biographical sources, she holds American nationality and identifies as White-American. Details regarding her parents and siblings remain largely private, as Collin has not publicly discussed her family background in any verified primary source.
Educational Journey
Collin graduated from Worthington High School in 2000. Following graduation, she enrolled at the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale, where she completed an 18-month broadcast journalism program — the formal training that prepared her for her first professional on-air roles.
Some third-party biographical sources have also reported that she later attended the University of Minnesota–Twin Cities and earned a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism. However, this has not been confirmed by Collin herself or through her official Alpha News biography, and should be treated with caution until a primary source verifies the claim.
What is consistently documented across multiple sources is her progression from the Art Institute program directly into her early broadcast career — first at a small radio station in her hometown, then at television stations across several states. Her academic training, combined with years of on-the-ground reporting experience, laid the foundation for a journalism career that would eventually earn her multiple Emmy Awards.
Liz Collin's Career in Journalism
Liz Collin is a multi-Emmy Award-winning investigative journalist and news anchor whose career spans more than two decades across radio, television, documentary filmmaking, and authorship — with reporting work that has directly influenced public policy at the state level in Minnesota.
Early Career Beginnings
Collin’s path into journalism started earlier than most. At 15, while still a student, she joined Trojan News and began learning the fundamentals of reporting from the ground up. It was a deliberate start for someone who had already shown, at the age of 10, that she understood the value of telling a story and putting it in front of an audience.
Her first broadcast moment came at KWOA radio in her hometown of Worthington, Minnesota, where she covered a tornado that touched down in southwestern Minnesota. It was an unplanned but defining debut — live, local, and high-stakes reporting before she had even finished high school.
What followed was a cross-country progression through some of American broadcasting’s most formative training grounds. She worked briefly with CNN, gaining early exposure to national-level journalism before most reporters her age had left their first local market. She also spent approximately six months working as a robotic camera operator at a large NBC station — a technical role that gave her a behind-the-scenes understanding of broadcast production that few on-air journalists possess.
Her first sustained on-air opportunity came at KDLT-TV in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, where she spent approximately two years developing her reporting and anchoring skills in a live television environment. From there, she moved to KWCH-TV in Wichita, Kansas, where her investigative instincts sharpened considerably. Among the stories she pursued there was an investigation into a military school in Salina — the kind of accountability journalism that would come to define her career. She also held positions in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and in Florida, accumulating experience across producing, investigative reporting, and anchoring in multiple television markets before returning to Minnesota.
Rise at WCCO and Alpha News
Collin joined WCCO-TV — the CBS affiliate serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul metropolitan area — in 2008, and what followed was nearly 14 years of award-winning journalism that left a measurable mark on Minnesota public life.
Her reporting at WCCO was not confined to headlines. It produced results. Her coverage of a young girl who choked to death at a Mankato daycare center led directly to new Minnesota legislation requiring childcare facilities to maintain a higher number of trained CPR staff. Her investigation into dangerously long 911 response hold times — delays that contributed to at least one death — pushed the city of Minneapolis to hire additional dispatchers. These were not incremental stories. They were investigations that changed how institutions operated.
Her work extended across a wide range of subject matter. She covered Alzheimer’s disease through the lens of a Stillwater family’s personal struggle, bringing emotional depth to a story that statistics alone could not tell. She pursued difficult questions in the case of Hennepin County’s most prolific heroin dealer, whose prosecution took months to secure. During the COVID-19 pandemic, her healthcare reporting gave faces to the numbers — finding families from all walks of Minnesota life willing to share experiences that the data could not capture on its own. She also hosted WCCO’s Crystal Pillars Award ceremony, presenting awards to recipients during the station’s recognition events.
Collin left WCCO in January 2022, closing a chapter that had defined her public profile in Minnesota. The following month, in February 2022, she joined Alpha News in Minneapolis as a Senior Investigative Reporter — a move she described as an opportunity to pursue stories she had been unable to cover in her previous role.
At Alpha News, her output has expanded significantly beyond traditional television reporting. She produces exclusive investigative content and hosts the Liz Collin Reports podcast, a regular interview-driven program available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts that features conversations on crime, public safety, politics, and issues she describes as underreported by mainstream outlets. Her reporting at Alpha News has contributed to the passage of important state laws in Minnesota. In 2023, she co-produced The Fall of Minneapolis, a documentary film examining the aftermath of George Floyd’s death and its impact on the city’s police department and public safety landscape. She also co-produced Minnesota v We the People, a follow-up documentary continuing that investigative thread.
Major Achievements and Awards
The formal recognition of Collin’s work stretches across multiple organizations and formats. She is a multiple Emmy Award winner — one of broadcast journalism’s most competitive and respected honors — though the specific Emmy categories she has won have not been publicly detailed in verified sources. What is consistently documented is that she has received multiple Emmy Awards across her career, earning her the designation of multi-Emmy Award-winning journalist.
Beyond the Emmys, she received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association — an honor that recognizes excellence in electronic journalism and carries significant weight among broadcast professionals. She is also a recipient of the D. Tennant Bryan Award, an additional recognition of her contributions to the field.
Her recognition has not been limited to traditional broadcasting. In 2022, she was featured in The Greatest Lie Ever Sold: George Floyd and the Rise of BLM, a documentary produced by Eric Bolling for The Balance, which brought her investigative perspective on the George Floyd case to a national audience. Her book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd, co-authored with Dr. JC Chaix, became an Amazon best-seller — a significant commercial milestone for a working journalist entering the authorship space.
Taken together, these achievements reflect a career built on more than 20 years of verified, consequential journalism — from small-town radio in Worthington to Emmy-winning television in Minneapolis to documentary film and national authorship.
Net Worth and Salary
Liz Collin’s estimated net worth falls between $500,000 and $1 million, accumulated over a journalism career of more than two decades that has expanded well beyond traditional television reporting to include book authorship, documentary production, podcast hosting, and public speaking.
Salary figures cited here are third-party estimates based on publicly available industry data. They have not been confirmed or disclosed by Liz Collin or any representative acting on her behalf. Readers should treat these figures as approximations only.
Salary Details
During her nearly 14-year tenure at WCCO-TV, the CBS affiliate serving Minneapolis and St. Paul, Collin’s estimated annual salary ranged between $75,556 and $97,994, based on figures compiled from publicly available industry data and third-party biographical sources. These figures are consistent with compensation ranges reported for experienced anchors and reporters at major-market CBS affiliates in the United States.
Her current salary at Alpha News, where she serves as a Senior Investigative Reporter, has not been publicly disclosed. Alpha News has not released compensation details for its staff, and Collin herself has not confirmed any specific earnings figure in any verified public statement.
It is worth noting that her income is not drawn from broadcasting alone. Sales of her Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd, contribute to her earnings, as does her work as a documentary producer on The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People. Her podcast, Liz Collin Reports, and active public speaking engagements represent additional income streams that supplement her journalism work.
Net Worth Estimate
Based on publicly available information, Liz Collin’s net worth is most consistently estimated at between $500,000 and $1 million. This range reflects the cumulative earnings from a multi-decade career in broadcast journalism, combined with income generated through her work as an author, documentary producer, podcast host, and public speaker.
The primary driver of her net worth remains her long-form television career — first across multiple regional markets in South Dakota, Kansas, Pennsylvania, and Florida, and then through her prominent 14-year role at WCCO in Minneapolis. The commercial success of her book and the continued reach of her investigative documentary work have further contributed to her overall financial profile.
No official net worth declaration has been made by Liz Collin or issued through any verified financial disclosure. The figures presented here represent estimates compiled from publicly available sources and standard industry benchmarks — they should not be interpreted as confirmed or precise valuations.
Personal Life and Family
Liz Collin is married to Bob Kroll, a retired Minneapolis police lieutenant and former president of the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation — a relationship that became one of the most publicly scrutinized aspects of her journalism career.
Husband — Bob Kroll
Before her marriage to Kroll, Collin was married to Joe Sheeran, a fellow reporter she met while both were working in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The two married in 2004. The couple later divorced, though the date of their separation has never been confirmed in any verified public source.
Collin married Bob Kroll in November 2019. The wedding was kept private, and Kroll himself actively resisted public acknowledgment of the marriage — going as far as to tell the Star Tribune that he would refuse to speak with the publication if it reported on the union. For a period, the marriage remained largely outside public awareness despite being known within Minneapolis media circles.
Kroll held one of the most visible and contentious positions in Minneapolis law enforcement as president of the Minneapolis Police Officers Federation, the union representing the city’s police officers. When George Floyd died in May 2020 following an encounter with Minneapolis police officers, Kroll became a focal point of public anger. Calls for his resignation intensified through that summer, and in January 2021 he retired from his role as federation president.
The marriage placed Collin in a difficult professional position. WCCO-TV addressed the situation formally, stating that Collin had not reported on Minneapolis Police Department or police union matters for at least two and a half years prior to the controversy. Despite that assurance, public pressure on both Collin and the station intensified. In August 2020, more than 100 protesters gathered outside the couple’s home, demanding that both Kroll resign and Collin be removed from her anchor role.
Collin did not step back from the controversy quietly. After leaving WCCO in January 2022, she addressed the events of that period directly and at length through her Amazon best-selling book, They’re Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd, co-authored with Dr. JC Chaix. Her investigative journalism at Alpha News has continued to engage with the same subject matter that defined that turbulent chapter of her career.
Children and Family Life
Liz Collin has one son, Anthony Donald, born in 2012 from her first marriage to Joe Sheeran. The name Anthony Donald is reported to have been chosen in honor of his grandfather, though this detail originates from third-party biographical sources rather than a confirmed primary statement from Collin.
There is no public record of Collin and Bob Kroll having children together. Her Amazon author biography notes that she lives in the suburbs of the Twin Cities with her husband, her son, and their dog — one of the few personal details she has shared publicly about her home life.
Beyond those confirmed details, Collin keeps her family life largely out of the public eye. No further information about her domestic life, extended family, or household has been verified through primary sources.
FAQ: Everything You Need to Know About Liz Collin
Key questions answered about the Emmy-winning investigative journalist and Alpha News senior reporter
She celebrates her birthday on July 10 each year and is a Cancer by zodiac sign. Collin grew up in Worthington and spent her entire childhood in the small southwestern Minnesota city before pursuing a broadcast journalism career that has spanned more than two decades across multiple states.
The couple married in November 2019, though the wedding was kept private at the time. Kroll retired from his federation role in January 2021 following public pressure in the aftermath of George Floyd's death. Collin was previously married to Joe Sheeran, a fellow journalist she met while working in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. That marriage took place in 2004 and later ended in divorce.
Prior to Alpha News, she served as a reporter and anchor at WCCO-TV — the CBS affiliate serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul area — for nearly 14 years, having joined the station in 2008. At Alpha News, she produces exclusive investigative content and hosts the Liz Collin Reports podcast, available on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.
In addition to her Emmy Awards, she has received a regional Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio-Television News Directors Association — one of broadcast journalism's most respected honors — as well as the D. Tennant Bryan Award. Her Amazon best-selling book, They're Lying: The Media, the Left, and The Death of George Floyd, and her documentary films The Fall of Minneapolis and Minnesota v We the People further reflect the breadth of her professional achievements.
There is no public record of children from her current marriage to Bob Kroll. Collin has referenced her son in public-facing materials, including her Amazon author biography, where she describes living in the suburbs of the Twin Cities with her husband, her son, and their dog. Beyond that, she keeps her family life largely private.
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