The long time anchor for Los Angeles KTLA-TV, Hal Fishman, the Channel 5 news reporter who was a broadcasting fixture for nearly 50 years, died today, the station announced this morning. He was 75.
The station reported that Fishman died at 3 a.m. at his home with his family.
He was hospitalized with a serious infection after collapsing at his home Wednesday. On Friday, the station announced that he had been diagnosed with colon cancer and that the disease had spread to his liver.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Fishman had anchored his station's 10 p.m. newscast "KTLA Prime News" since 1975. Fishman anchored his last broadcast on July 30.
"I think Hal is one of the last newsmen in this country that is extremely well-read and is so interested in informing the public about the truth," Rich Goldner, interim KTLA news director, told The Times on Friday. "He has been an anchor in this market for such a long time because he is so believable and has extreme integrity. He had a bond with the viewers and means so much to Southern California."
Former longtime KTLA news director Jeff Wald said Fishman was "certainly the dean of Los Angeles television news."
The news of Fishman's hospitalization had numerous get-well wishes expressed from viewers posted on the website of KTLA, which like The Times is owned by Chicago-based Tribune Co. E-mail missives praised the veteran anchor for his "honesty," "sagacity" and "responsible journalism."
"Get well soon, Hal," said a message from a woman named Dolores. "It just isn't the news without you. We love you."
"Came to L.A. in early 60s and u had just started at ktla," wrote another e-mailer. "Wow. U have outlasted 3 of my wives."
The Times reports that in a 2006 interview with Broadcasting & Cable magazine, Fishman recalled the first thing he ever said on television: "Good afternoon, I'm professor Hal Fishman, and this course is certainly quite unique for me, because it's the first course that I have ever taught where the student can turn the professor off."
Fishman did so well that he was asked to stay at the station and provide political commentary.
"When I was a professor," he said in the 1985 Times interview, "I used to tell my students, 'You can't have a properly functioning democracy without an enlightened electorate.' It's our job as newscasters to enlighten the electorate. We are the conduits of information."
In 2002, the Associated Press Television-Radio Assn. gave him its first Lifetime Achievement Award, as well as naming him "Best News Anchor" for the third consecutive year. And in 2004 and 2005, the Southern California Radio and Television News Assn. honored Fishman for best news commentary.
The Times reports that he received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1992 and in 2000 — his 40th anniversary in television news broadcasting — KTLA named its newsroom "The Hal Fishman Newsroom" in recognition to his service to the station and the community.
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