Posted by chicagomedia.org on August 04, 2009 at 10:02:22:
Porterfield back at WBBM
TV | Will co-anchor 11 a.m. news after 24-year absence
August 4, 2009
BY LEWIS LAZARE | Sun-Times Media & Marketing Columnist
Harry Porterfield barely had time to catch his breath. After leaving ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7 on Thursday, Porterfield, 81, said Monday he is returning to work Aug. 10 at CBS-owned WBBM-Channel 2.
WBBM is bringing him back 24 years after his demotion and departure sparked a 10-month boycott organized by the Rev. Jesse Jackson and Operation PUSH.
Porterfield will co-anchor the station's 30-minute 11 a.m. newscast alongside Roseanne Tellez five days a week and continue his familiar "Someone You Should Know" segments spotlighting noteworthy Chicagoans. Those profiles will probably appear on one of the station's early newscasts.
Porterfield launched his television career at WBBM in 1964 as a newswriter, working his way up to reporter and anchor of the station's 6 p.m. newscast. But he had a troubled parting of the ways in 1985.
"We had a problem with my contract at WBBM," he said Monday, adding "some of the things WBBM management did unilaterally at the time that related to my anchoring duties were not in my contract." WBBM demoted Porterfield -- their only African-American weekday news anchor at the time -- to reporter. He resigned and joined WLS as a feature news reporter and substitute anchor.
The boycott hit Channel 2's ratings and revenue and was pivotal in knocking the station from its place as the top-rated Chicago news station.
WBBM News Director Jeff Kiernan, who arrived in January to lead a news department turnaround, said, "Harry has a special relationship with local viewers, and he's universally respected."
WLS opted not to renew Porterfield's latest contract, but the broadcast veteran apparently wasn't ready to retire. "Telling stories and reporting the news is what I do," he said. "And I'm not done yet, even at age 81."