Harry Porterfield
Harry Porterfield (born August 29, 1928) is a former news anchor for WBBM-TV.
Career
Porterfield was born in Saginaw, Michigan and began his career in 1955, working as a disc jockey for WKNX. Porterfield began working at WBBM in 1964 as a news writer. Porterfield left WBBM in 1985 for WLS-TV, where he worked for 24 years, but returned to WBBM in 2009 as the 11 a.m. news anchor.[1][2] In December 2015, Porterfield announced his retirement.[3][4]
While working for both WBBM and WLS, Porterfield was known for his "Someone You Should Know" segments.[5]
Awards
Porterfield has won eleven Emmy Awards, a Studs Terkel Award, and the Alfred I. duPont–Columbia University Award.[3] Porterfield also received the Legacy of Leadership Award at the Indiana University Neal-Marshall Eleventh Annual Alumni Graduation Reception.[6]
CBS Boycott
In the late 1980s, Porterfield was demoted from his job as anchorman at CBS to reporter when Bill Kurtis was made anchorman. As a result, Porterfield resigned from WBBM (CBS) and moved to WLS (ABC).[7][8] This resulted in a 10-month boycott of CBS led by Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH.[9][10]
References
- "Harry Porterfield". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Rosenthal, Phil. "Porterfield set to return to WBBM-Ch. 2 roots". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Feder, Robert. "CBS 2 announces Harry Porterfield retirement". Robert Feder. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Eck, Kevin. "Longtime Anchor Retires From WBBM, Co-Anchor Moved to Reporter". Adweek. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
- Magers, Ron. "HARRY PORTERFIELD: SOMEONE YOU SHOULD KNOW". WLS-TV. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
- "IUN alums put TV anchor in spotlight". The Times of Northwest Indiana. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Boyer, Peter. "NEW HEAD OF CBS UNIT IN CHICAGO". New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Boyer, Peter. "CBS AIDES MEET JACKSON OVER CHICAGO BOYCOTT". The New York Times. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Battaglio, Stephen. "Door of opportunity swings wide for new 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Lester Holt". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
- Rosenthal, Phil. "Porterfield's WBBM exit spurred protests, minority hiring". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 18 June 2016.