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Friends, colleagues fondly recall longtime news anchor
By GUY D’ASTOLFO
YOUNGSTOWN
Bob Black, who was known to most Mahoning Valley residents as a local TV news anchor for more than three decades, was a mentor and consummate professional, colleagues say.
Black, 68, died Wednesday of natural causes at his Grove City, Pa., home, just 16 months after retiring as anchor of the evening news on 21 WFMJ-TV. He had held that position for 18 years.
The sudden passing of Black cast a pall on the WFMJ newsroom Thursday.
“Our newsroom has lost a colleague, a mentor and, most importantly, a friend,” said Mona Alexander, news director at the station.
Alexander had worked with Black for many years.
“Bob was like a brother to me,” she said. “I literally grew up with him in TV news.”
She put in perspective Black’s impact on the community.
“Bob informed and enlightened his viewers and held the powerful accountable,” said Alexander. “He practiced journalism at its best and highest levels. He’s an icon, and we’re so grateful he was with us for so many years.”
Alexander said she learned a lot from Black as a professional journalist, but one thing in particular stands out.
“More than anything, I learned that fairness and absolute objectivity are not goals you reach for on a daily basis. They are requirements in every story you report.”
Black’s television career started in 1978 as a weekend sports anchor at WKBN-TV, where he was soon named anchor of the noon news.
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 of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts in early 1998, a position he held until he retired Nov. 30, 2015.
Black continued to contribute to 21 News broadcasts, covering the 2016 presidential election and serving as an analyst. He appeared as recently as two weeks ago on WFMJ “Weekend Today’s” Press Pass segment to discuss President Donald Trump’s new administration.
Jack Grdic, general manager of the station, said the ultimate description of Black’s life was that of a true journalist.
“He was a journalist to his very core, and he never could shut off that switch,” said Grdic, also noting his work covering politics after his retirement.
“He was enjoying his retirement, but If you knew Bob, you knew he’d still do a little bit of work.”
Grdic is proud that WFMJ quickly hired Black after he was let go at WKBN. “We saw that as a mistake,” he said. “Bob was so talented, and a good guy. He became No. 1 [in ratings] very quickly, and he was the top-rated local anchor for practically all of his career.”
Black, a graduate of Penn State, got his first broadcasting job at a small radio station in Grove City while a college student. After graduating, he became a teacher in his hometown, before landing his first TV job at WKBN.
As his retirement neared, Grdic said he took on the role of mentor to his younger colleagues at 21 WFMJ-TV.
“He had a significant influence on all of them,” said Grdic. “It was fun to watch someone at the height of his career pass along his key qualities.”
Grdic said Black’s late-career mentoring reflects his start as a teacher. “You could say his life came full circle,” he said.
In an interview with The Vindicator just before he retired, Black said the highlights of his career were being summoned to Washington, D.C., in the 1980s to interview then-President Ronald Reagan; and a trip to Palermo, Italy, in 2000 to report on organized crime.
Mark Brown, vice president of WFMJ Television Inc. and Vindicator general manager, said, “Bob was what you expect a journalist to be. Thorough, accurate, precise, driven, fair and objective in his approach. But he was also fun and caring, a genuinely good person, which made him a perfect fit with a family-owned station like WFMJ. He will be sorely missed by many. It was a pleasure and privilege to have known and worked with him.”
U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan of Howland, D-13th, said Black “was a premier journalist and news anchor. He was a gentleman and a class act. I met Bob during my first campaign for Congress. No matter how hot an issue became or how negative a campaign got, Bob always conducted himself with class and professionalism. He walked our Valley through some of our most heartbreaking events. He was like family for many of us, and he leaves a large legacy for future journalists to try to match.”
Black is survived by his wife, Coleen, whom he married in 1971; his brother, Scott, of Stoneboro, Pa.; sisters Bonnie Smith of Volant, Pa., and Susan Gibson of Sharpsville, Pa., as well as two daughters, Lindsay Walter of Kittanning, Pa., and Molly Cooper of Greensburg, Pa.