KTLA Channel 5 News Anchor Hal Fishman dead at 75
Longtime KTLA News Anchor, Hal Fishman died last night at the age of 75. A respected presence on local newscast for over 40 years. Fishman lost his battle with Colon Cancer.
Fishman in addition to his longtime work as News anchor of KTLA's 10:00 PM newscast. Lived a full life as a record setting pilot. But what few remember is that he was a Professor of Political Science at Cal State Los Angeles and taught until recent years.
Fishman was the last of the great local news anchors who would mix reporting with commentary. Fishman will rank with the Putnams, Dunphys, and Moyers for their longevity in the Los Angeles Visual Media Community.
Our Prayers go out to the Fishman Family.
EVENING UPDATE:
Moving tribute to Hal Fishman this evening on the 10:00 PM Newscast. Hal's integrity and professionalism will be missed. Yet, I have to wonder how our Mayor was able to get some "FACE TIME" on the broadcast.
Fishman in addition to his longtime work as News anchor of KTLA's 10:00 PM newscast. Lived a full life as a record setting pilot. But what few remember is that he was a Professor of Political Science at Cal State Los Angeles and taught until recent years.
Fishman was the last of the great local news anchors who would mix reporting with commentary. Fishman will rank with the Putnams, Dunphys, and Moyers for their longevity in the Los Angeles Visual Media Community.
Our Prayers go out to the Fishman Family.
EVENING UPDATE:
Moving tribute to Hal Fishman this evening on the 10:00 PM Newscast. Hal's integrity and professionalism will be missed. Yet, I have to wonder how our Mayor was able to get some "FACE TIME" on the broadcast.
Posted by Red Spot in CD 14 @ 8/07/2007 08:30:00 AM
15 Comments:
Wow, that's shocking. He was sick just two weeks ago, then diagnosed with cancer then dead. It just happened so fast.
Paul Moyer may have longevity, but is not in the same league as Fishman,
Putnam and Dunphy.
Hal Fishman had so much integrity
and insight in his broadcast. He
was on every night at 10 in my house while I was growing up. Truly a legend, and will be sorely missed.
Jerry Dunphy-Integrity?
Isn't that the same guy whose wife SHOT him after he was playing around with his makeup girl?
Integrity? Know your history.
MEMO TO "10:04 and 10:25 AM",
I was refering to "LONGEVITY". We all know that Moyer can be "OVER THE TOP AS A DRAMA KING". Dunphy wasn't the "BRIGHTEST BULB IN A DARK ROOM". Yet night after night, Fishman and the Professonal Stable of Field Reporters such as Stan Chambers, Larry McCormic and Wilson were the best in the L.A. Market.
MEMO TO 10:27 PM,
Dunphy was shot by would-be robbers.
Factually,
Red Spot
Godspeed, Hal.
You were a lot of fun.
It is really sad. But when's the last time anyone saw a 75-year-old woman still anchoring the tv news?
Katie Couric and Meredith Viera are a younga-looking 50ish, but will even they still be going strong at 75, in 25 years? Besides Barbara Walters, are there any women that age now?
Hal Fishman was the best aviation news reporter in the TV news business. As a record setting pilot and a great researcher, he sought to accurately report the news. He not only reported on the aviation news stories, but he was also a part of those stories. Sometimes we would see him in his private plane as a part of the news broadcast. Other times he was a part of record setting flights such as 1988 United Airlines round the world trip on a Boeing 747SP or more recently on a corporate jet from Van Nuys to Newfoundland to Paris, France. Hal took his anchor job so seriously that he had timed the record setting Van Nuys to Paris flight so that when he arrived in Paris he took a commercial flight home and reported his story that same evening on the News at Ten broadcast. Hal Fishman will be sorely missed as a staple of late night TV news.
I can only hope that other reporters will aspire to the accuracy and passion that Hal Fishman brought to news broadcasting. I can remember a number of times when reporters at other TV stations did not do a simple check of facts. For example, in 1986, a United Airlines Boeing 747 flying from Hawaii lost a cargo door and a few passengers were sucked out of the hole on the right side of the aircraft. One TV reporter who is no longer in the LA market claimed that the 747 had been in service for 20 years. WRONG! Try 16 years at that time. Today, 37 years!
On another story involving a controversy over a student group at UCLA in 1993, another TV station kept inaccurately reporting the name of another student group that had no connection to the controversy. I called the station during the 11:00pm broadcast of the story and spoke with the evening news manager. When I provided him with the correct information and nicely asked the news manager to make an on air correction, his response was, "We don't care."
Hal was also a passionate advocate. Many viewers looked forward to his nightly commentaries that were often very thought provoking. One commentary related to aviation that he often made was his support for the Canadair Super Scooper fire fighting aircraft. He had often pushed for the County of Los Angeles to purchase these aircraft to fight Southern California’s annual wild fires. L.A. County does have a few of these aircraft on seasonal lease from the Province of Quebec in Canada.
The reason why Hal Fishman and News at Ten (now Prime News) consistently received top honors was because viewers could trust Hal Fishman and his attention to accuracy. Let’s hope that KTLA will continue Hal’s tradition of accuracy and integrity in news reporting. There should be no substitution or excuses for the truth.
Hal, I will miss you. My condolences to your family and everyone at KTLA Channel 5.
After the tributes are over and the memorial service is done, it will be
fascinating to see who gets Fishman's chair.
I think by letting Carlos Amezcua fill in this week, that KTLA has
picked him. That is a surprise to me, since I thought Frank Buckley was the heir apparent. Frank filled in on the KTLA morning news.
I guess from a selfish point of view, I would like to see Carlos remain in the morning, since I really enjoy him there. I understand that 10PM would be a step up for him.
Kelly what's her name was on KNBC until she was about 70. AT least.
Kelly what's her name was 70? Can't recall any older ladies called Kelly.
Kelly Lang.....We loved you at our house, Hal. Thank you.
Ouch. That is a painful memory.
The Kelly Lange and Paul Moyer team
on Channel 4.
Another example of Hal Fishman's ability to get the news dissseminated correctly was his highly accurate reporting of the cause of the "May Day Melee," when the news programs of the other TV stations showed only the LAPD shoving people at MacArthur Park.
The cause of the LAPD reaction was that of the anarchists throwing rocks and bottles at the officers, and the film footage on the news story clearly showed that. Those who were injured at the "melee" and are (or will be) suing the City for damages should instead focus upon suing the anarchists responsible for creating the conditions which lead to said injuries.
Hal Fishman was one of the old breed of reporters - factually reporting the news events; never kowtowing to the left-wing ideological opinion news reporting which is so prevalent on other TV news programs (FOX News excluded). He will truly be missed by those of us who grew up watching his news reporting.
Hal, wherever you are, you earned our undying respect. Thank you.
Thank you, Hal, for a lifetime of fair and accurate journalism.
Thank you for providing an oasis of reason in a cespool of left-wing propaganda.
Thank you for being serious about the news, without being a pompous blowhard like Moyer.
Thank you for being an important part of our lives.
God bless you, Hal Fishman.
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