Bob Black retiring from WFMJ

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Bob Black was always comfortable at the center of the discussion – the one holding everyone’s attention.

It’s a trait that steered him to become a TV news anchor, a position he’s had for the better part of the past four decades.

Black will retire at the end of the month, capping a career that began in 1978, with the past 18 years as anchor of 21 WFMJ-TV news. He announced his retirement Tuesday during the 6 p.m. newscast.

On Monday, the newsman sat in his wood-paneled office and talked about his life behind the microphone. A subplot to his own story, he said, is about being in the right place at the right time.

On a wall in his office hangs a photograph of a younger Black sitting down with President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. Interviewing a president is something most newsmen never get to do.

“Reagan was unhappy with the national media, and he was getting bashed over his opposition to foreign steel tariffs,” said Black. “So he got his message out by inviting local media from steelmaking cities in for interviews.”

Black was the choice for Youngstown.

“The news director called me one evening and said, ‘Can you interview President Reagan tomorrow morning at the White House?” said Black. “I said, ‘Let’s do it.’ I was in the right place at the right time.”

His first indication of a career in broadcasting might have come when he was a student at Grove City High School in Pennsylvania. His friends would gather in wood shop and Black would hold court with his stories. “I enjoyed having everyone’s attention and I thought, ‘This is something I could do,’” he said.

Community theater proved a natural extension of this strength, and it was at an audition for a show in Grove City that his life in broadcasting began. “One of the men on the theater board, James Vincent Perry, owned the local radio station and he said to me, ‘You’ve got a voice for broadcasting. ... Go get a license and I’ll have a job for you.’

“I hadn’t even thought about broadcasting at that time, but I got a radio license and began working at WEDA-FM,” said Black.

Once again, right place at the right time.

That was just after graduating high school. Black would then go to Penn State University, where he earned a degree in education in 1970. He came back to Grove City and began working as a teacher while working weekends at WEDA.

At his wife’s urging, Black applied at Pittsburgh and Youngstown television stations. He landed a job as weekend sports anchor at WKBN-TV in 1978. Shortly after, the station expanded its noon news to 30 minutes and named Black the anchor.

He was let go by WKBN after that station changed ownership in 1997 but was quickly hired at 21 WFMJ-TV and took over as co-anchor in early 1998, a position he has held to this day.

Right place, right time.

Being a news anchor is like being invited into thousands of homes every evening, so the position comes with great responsibility.

“Others are writing the news, but the anchor still does some writing, and you have to make sure it is correct,” he said. “It’s more important to be right than to be first, and if it comes out of your mouth, you better be sure it is. It’s your face and your credibility.”

Black’s final broadcast as co-anchor of 21 News will be the 6 p.m. newscast Nov. 30, but he will stay on in some capacity with the station’s news team.

Jack Grdic, general manager of 21 WFMJ-TV, called Black “the Valley’s anchor.”

“He came to WFMJ as part of our commitment to build the Valley’s No. 1 local news organization,” said Grdic. “Bob chose to have his career in the Valley, and he chose to work at the locally owned station. His experience, leadership and trust are the hallmarks that 21 News seeks to deliver every single day. ... I am happy that Bob has agreed to have a recurring role with us moving forward, particularly with the size and scope of the 2016 election year.”

Succeeding Black will be Derek Steyer, currently the anchor of “WFMJ Weekend Today.” Steyer will join Leslie Barrett for 21 News weeknights at 6 and 11 p.m. beginning Dec. 1.

Black has amassed a lot of memories in his years as a newsman. He ticked off a few of the bigger stories that he covered: reporting on General Motors’ decisions in Detroit that affected the Lordstown plant, and working on the federal trial of late U.S. Rep. Jim Traficant.

Perhaps his best memory is of a 2000 trip to Palermo, Italy, that he took with other local leaders to report on La Cosa Nostra as part of a U.N. Symposium on organized crime. It was on the heels of the mob-related corruption trials in Youngstown that brought down so many local politicians and gangsters. Black won an Associated Press award for his coverage of the event.

“We went live for the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts, but it was midnight and 5 a.m. there,” he said. “Until then, I don’t believe that had ever been done in Youngstown news.

“The satellite truck crew was from Turkey, and I didn’t speak Turkish or Italian, and they didn’t speak English or Italian, so we communicated mostly with our hands.”

Black still lives in Grove City with his wife, Colleen, whom he married in 1971. They have two daughters: Lindsay of Kittanning, Pa., and Molly of Greensburg, Pa.

Because he will continue to do some work with 21 WFMJ-TV, Black hasn’t thought about what he will do with his retirement.

“We’re not making definitive plans for a year,” he said. “But I will spend a lot more time on my boat at Sandy Lake.”

Although he loves his job, Black is looking forward to the next phase of his life. He has a list of tasks around the house that he’ll finally be able to tackle – including replacing the radiator in his Cobra sports car, which he built many years ago.

“Some people never make it to retirement,” he said. “I decided I am not going to work until I die. I will have time to do whatever I want to do.”

Mona Alexander, news director of 21 WFMJ-TV, had mixed emotions about Black’s retirement.

“Bob and I have been friends and colleagues for many, many years and I will dearly miss seeing him on a daily basis,” said Alexander. “That said, he deserves a long and happy retirement. I’m just thrilled he’ll still be a part of the 21 News team and he’s not completely saying goodbye.”