I have been in on the air in New York City for 47 years. Ten of the best were spent at WCBS, Newsradio 88. I worked as both an anchor and a reporter from December, 1990 to October, 2000.
My most vivid reporting memory occurred in the first month of my time there. I covered a subway crash in Union Square. I remained at the scene for nearly 14 hours. After being up all day, I was called in at about 10pm and worked through almost 1 o'clock the following afternoon. I was extremely tired, but I my adrenaline was flowing and I wasn't even aware of it. Reporting a big story for such a great radio station was all that mattered. As I recall, the station either won or was nominated for a New York State AP Broadcasters Award for our coverage.
I covered another big story, but this time as an anchor. It was the crash of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island taking all aboard to their deaths. Then too, I remained on the air, along with co-anchor Eric Scott from 10p until 5 the next morning. As a single anchor during that first 10 to 11pm hour, I recall trying to piece together fragments of information from sketchy wire accounts. We dropped all commercials almost immediately, so there was a lot of time to fill. During the wee small hours, Eric and I interviewed Dr. Joyce Brothers, who told us what the families of the victims would be going through and how they might best get through their grief. Well, a few days later, I received a letter from a brother and his sister who had lost their parents that night. They thanked us for our coverage and especially for the dignified way in which we questioned Dr. Brothers and how much our words had helped through the night. It showed me once again the power of a radio station like WCBS and how important it can be to a community.
But most of all, I recall the talented people I worked with. It was the desk assistants, writers, reporters, fellow anchors, technicians, and the managers who made WCBS Newsradio such a great station to listen to and a great place to work.
