Max Robinson
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Image:MaxRobinson.gif Max Robinson (May 1, 1939 - December 20, 1988) was a television journalist in the United States, and is best known for being the only African American network news anchor in the country. He was also a founder of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Robinson began his television career in 1959, when he was hired for a news job in Portsmouth, VA. He had to read the news while hidden behind a slide of the station's logo. One night, Robinson had the slide removed, and was fired the next day.
He later went to Washington, D.C. based WRC-TV, and stayed for three years, winning six journalism awards for coverage of civil rights events such as the riots that followed the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1969, Robinson joined the Eyewitness News team at WTOP-TV (now WUSA-TV) in Washington, D.C. He was teamed with anchor Gordon Peterson, and the newscast took off. During that time, he so well liked by viewers, that when Hanafi Muslims took hostages at a Washington Mosque, they would only speak with Robinson.
Robinson was tapped by Roone Arledge to become the Chicago-based co-anchor of ABC World News Tonight in 1978 after Arledge had seen Robinson in a documentary on CBS' 60 Minutes. He served in that position until 1983, when ABC abandoned the multiple anchor format following the death of Frank Reynolds.
Robinson's ABC tenure was marked by conflicts between him and the management of ABC News over viewpoints and the portrayal of black America in the news. In addition, he was known by his co-workers to show up late for work or sometimes not show up at all, along with his moods, and his use of alcohol escalated. In addition, Robinson was known to fight racism at any turn and often felt unworthy of the admiration he received and was not pleased with what he had accomplished. He was often considered a mentor to young black broadcast journalists.
By the time Robinson departed ABC News to become the first black anchor at Chicago's WMAQ-TV in 1984, he had been relegated to the weekend news and news briefs. Robinson would not last at WMAQ, leaving the station in 1985.
In the fall of 1988, Robinson was in Washington to deliver a speech at Howard University's School of Journalism when he became increasingly ill. Robinson checked himself into Howard University Hospital where he died of AIDS on December 20, 1988. Robinson had been found to have the disease while he was hospitalized for pneumonia in an Illinois hospital, but kept it a secret.
At his service, he was eulogized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson.
Robinson was married three times and had four children. He was a brother to Randall Robinson.