Jane Hartney was born in Buffalo, growing-up in a large family of nine kids and attending local Catholic schools through high school, where she discovered photography and the magic of a darkroom. Later, in college, a history professor at Buffalo State suggested she consider journalism, and so, her two interests became the foundation of her soon-to-be profession.
Hartney worked at WNED-TV from 1973 until 1982, starting-out as a still photographer, but received on-the-job training in sound recording and shooting 16 mm film for local programming.
In 1982, Hartney had the opportunity to try freelancing as a cameraperson based in Rome, Italy. After nine months, she was sent to Beirut, Lebanon to cover the civil war for ABC News, and this is when her career truly began. Eighteen months in Beirut was followed by a posting in Amman, Jordan, mostly covering the Middle East. From there, Hartney returned to Rome, based at the ABC bureau until her retirement at the end of 2013.
Over the course of those years, Hartney covered the Iran/Iraq war, the first intifada in the West Bank, the collapse of the Soviet Union’s influence in Eastern Europe, and the fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1990, Hartney went to South Africa to cover the release of Nelson Mandela from prison. Throughout that decade, she covered the conflict in the former Yugoslavia, Operation Desert Storm after Iraq invaded Kuwait, more Bosnia, Iraq after the US invasion, and the US attempt to establish a western style Democracy. In-between were the famines in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia with the US Marines being sent for Operation Restore Hope. She also covered the aftermath of the Rwandan genocide in 1996.
In 1994, Hartney was part of the group awarded a Robert F. Kennedy Award for the story about the Sudan famine that aired on World News Tonight. Another story about Female Genital Mutilation in Gambia that aired in primetime was awarded a Peabody and an Overseas Press Club Award in 1996.
After 9/11, Hartney was sent on short visits to Afghanistan and then in and out of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. The second intifada erupted in the early 2000’s and she spent some time in the West Bank. In 2006, Hartney was part of the team that visited North Korea with Diane Sawyer.
As a Rome based cameraperson, Hartney covered the Vatican and the funeral of Pope John Paul II, the conclave that elected Pope Benedict, his resignation, and the election of Pope Francis, among other stories.
After retiring, Hartney returned to Buffalo after more than 30 years away from her hometown.