Legendary News Anchor Passes Away At 96

Bill Jorgensen, the New York broadcast giant who anchored the city’s 10 p.m. local news hour, has passed away at 96 according to the Daily Caller.

An announcement about Jorgensen’s death came from his daughter Rebekah, who broke the news in a Facebook post that the legendary broadcaster had died Wednesday of an undisclosed cause.

“It’s with a heavy heart that I announce the passing of my dad, 96-year-old broadcast news anchor and journalist, Bill Jorgensen yesterday,” she wrote in a post on Thursday.

“Many people knew and enjoyed his work on air in radio and TV from the ’50’s – the 70’s, the “Golden Age of News Broadcasting” in Cleveland (WERE, KYW) and New York (WNEW, WPIX and Independent Network News. But I grew up knowing him, behind the scenes, as a man deeply committed to finding the story that put people and their rights in danger, intent on finding innovative ways of telling it, whether it was about pollution in Cleveland, the Robert Manry – Tinkerbelle story, the Sam Shepherd case, or others.”

WATCH:

Rebekah Jorgensen credited her father with helping give her the direction and guidance to cut her own path in the media landscape as a film director with a focus on nature conservation.

“He was my first mentor in not giving up and finding the real story, from the time he first let me stay up to attend one of his nighttime broadcasts at the age of five. His “never-give-up” spirit lasted until his end of life, and I just hope to be able to follow his example as long as possible… Thank you, Dad, forever.”

Recruited to WNEW in 1967, Jorgensen had already established himself as a major media figure in Cleveland, Ohio where he served a lead anchor for the city’s NBC affiliate news station. His 10 p.m. slot in New York was made famous not only for its hard-hitting coverage of city government but also its family-centered commercial break segment, read by fellow anchor Thomas Gregory: “It’s 10 P.M. Do you know where your children are?”

After 12 years at the helm of WNEW, which later became Fox 5 News, Jorgensen took his talents to WPIX and its Independent Network News program, focusing on national and international issues of the day between 1980 and 1985. During that time he worked alongside co-anchors Steve Bosh and Pat Harper until the trio was replaced by Morton Dean in an agreement with Tribune News Broadcasting. Jorgensen retired two years later and settled in North Carolina.

According to his daughter, Jorgensen’s career highlights include an examination of the pollution that plagued Cleveland throughout the 1960s; the case of Dr. Sam Sheppard, who was acquitted of the murder of his pregnant wife and whose trial inspired the 1993 movie “The Fugitive” featuring Harrison Ford.