Felicia Middlebrooks' 25th anniversary at WBBM-AM

Subject:

Comments:
: Middlebrooks still driven after 25 years : WBBM-AM | 1st black female drive-time all-news co-anchor now at it the longest : October 1, 2009 : LEWIS LAZARE | Chicago Sun-Times : Twenty-five years ago today, Felicia Middlebrooks made history at all-news WBBM-AM (780). On Oct. 1, 1984, she signed on as the nation's first female and first African American to co-anchor a morning drive show at an all-news radio station. : And Middlebrooks, 51, still is making history as she celebrates her 25th anniversary in that same job at the same station. She is now the nation's longest-tenured female morning drive anchor at an all-news outlet. : Behind that wonderfully honey-sweet yet confident and reassuring voice is a veteran radio personality who takes nothing for granted. : "I feel so blessed to have the job that I do," she said. : Her boss is happy to have Middlebrooks right where she has been for so many years. "Her delivery and her authoritative style are unmatched anywhere in the radio news business today," said Rod Zimmerman, Chicago market manager for WBBM-AM parent CBS Radio. : Blessed -- and dedicated -- though she may be, Middlebrooks doesn't have the cushiest job in radio. She is up every workday around 2:30 a.m. After a short commute from her Streeterville home, she is in the WBBM studio by 3:30 each morning to consult with her longtime editor, Jim Benes, who brings her up to speed on what has happened overnight and what will likely be her show's news highlights that morning. Then, after writing her news copy, Middlebrooks settles into her co-anchor seat for the grueling five-hour, tightly formatted morning drive show. : "It's an incredibly intricate operation," she said. : Middlebrooks grew up in Gary, Ind., and knew by age 15 she wanted to be a journalist. : She worked at a steel mill to help pay her way through Purdue University. She also worked for several Indiana stations, where she learned the nuts and bolts of radio. At one point, she hosted shows about both classical music and horticulture -- proving her versatility early on. : By 1982, at age 24, Middlebrooks headed to Chicago, winding up at WBBM-Channel 2, interning with Harry Porterfield and helping him produce his iconic "Someone You Should Know" segments. : "Harry was a great teacher and the consummate professional," Middlebrooks said. She segued to jobs as telephone operator and desk assistant at Channel 2, until openings for an anchor and a reporter at WBBM-AM got her attention. She applied but was turned down for both. : WBBM-AM did offer her a free-lance job filling in for overnight talent, which subsequently led to a full-time position at an opportune moment. : "Management was thinking about trying a woman co-anchor in morning drive, something they had never done before," Middlebrooks recalled. : They green-lighted the plan and gave her the post. : "When I first signed on in morning drive, all I could think of was how privileged I felt," she said. : Since then, Middlebrooks has had many memorable moments on air, but perhaps none more so than the tragic morning of Sept. 11, 2001. : "It was shocking and frightening, but I knew I had to remain calm and report the news," Middlebrooks said. : Middlebrooks made headlines herself in March 2002 when she and WBBM came to an impasse on her contract negotiation and they announced they were parting company. She was off the air for nearly two weeks, but returned after the Rev. Jesse Jackson spoke with the bosses at Infinity Broadcasting, and Middlebrooks and WBBM came to terms. : She calls the contract dispute a "glitch" in her career. She said she did what she felt she had to do at the time, but that she never wanted to leave WBBM. : Since her radio partner of eight years, Pat Cassidy, left more than a year ago, Middlebrooks' interim co-host has been John Hultman, who came out of retirement to rejoin her. She was paired with Hultman when she started the morning drive job in 1984. : Middlebrooks does have a life outside radio. Writing is a passion, and she has several published works, including Called (2006), the personal account of Verizon supervisor Lisa Jefferson, who took Todd Beamer's call just before United Airlines Flight 93 crashed on Sept. 11, 2001. Filmmaking is another interest, and she hopes to distribute in schools a documentary she shot in Rwanda in 2004. : But Middlebrooks' key role at WBBM-AM remains the center of her busy life, and she can't imagine retiring. : "I'm going to keep doing it until I get it right," she said -- with just a hint of a wink in her velvety voice.

Optional Link URL:
Link Title:
Optional Image URL:

Enter verification code: