Peter King spent over three decades at CBS News Radio, anchoring hourly newscasts and covering everything from space shots to hurricanes, winning multiple awards for his space and Breaking News coverage. He shares this two part tribute to the network ahead of its shutdown on May 22. You can reach him at [email protected].
Part 1 can be read here.
Much has been reported about our storied history and our founding fathers-and rightfully so. However, I fear that much of the reporting has left readers/viewers with the mistaken impression that CBS News Radio’s glory days ended with Edward R. Murrow. Sadly, the people who’ve kept CBS News Radio thriving for decades have all but been ignored, unfairly. They deserve to be remembered as much as their predecessors are. This is hardly an all-inclusive list, but rather, a snapshot of an era about to end, with a few of my most memorable coworkers.
Bill Lynch anchored the World News Roundup and taught me an important lesson as I was trying to fit too much into a 30 second story. He heard me reading and timing it over and over down a scratchy cell phone line. His exact words before my live shot; “you can’t put ten pounds of shit into a five pound bag!” It stuck!
Lisa Meyer anchored and covered wars in Bosnia for CBS News and later, Afghanistan and Iraq for AP Radio. I did many live shots on her newscasts and a friendship and later, much more, developed. She and I were married from 2010, until her death 11 years later.
Anchors David Jackson, Jim Chenevey and Frank Settipani were terrific writers and no one could fit more stories into a newscast than Frank did. David had a breezy style that I tried to emulate, but not imitate. Jim’s on air style was more relaxed, yet, it projected authority and credibility.
David Dow, a gentleman in every sense of the word, reported from Los Angeles and was the lead anchor for our coverage of the OJ Simpson trial. He later co-wrote a book called Cameras in the Courtroom.
Every kid from the 70s and 80s remembers Christopher Glenn as the voice for Saturday morning tv’s “In the News.” But Chris later anchored CBS News Radio’s “The World Tonight” and then, the “World News Roundup,” as well as space coverage. Always gracious, I felt I must have really made the grade to get on one of his newscasts.
Dan Raviv was based in London and Israel before I met him in Miami. Dan had covered a lot of hot spots overseas when he returned to the states, first based in Miami, then Washington. His longform anchoring talents came into play on many election nights and during breaking news coverage.
Dan was out of town when Gianni Versace was killed in 1997, so I was sent to Miami to cover until Barry Bagnato could get there. Barry taught me about the birds and bees of network news. No one wrote more eloquently than Barry, who could distill a complicated medical, political or legal story into 25 easily understandable seconds.
Adam Raphael was our London correspondent when I met him in 1998. I’d gone there as a fill-in and he showed me the ropes-and generously, took me on a driving tour of the city. He was instrumental in our coverage of Princess Diana’s death in 1997. He reported for CBS and others from Vietnam in the ‘60s, later from Paris and then London.
Howard Arenstein was our DC bureau chief and memorably talked me through a slew of questions when I was sent there on a weekend assignment-all while taking his kids to King’s Dominion in Virginia.
Lou Miliano was a stickler for nat sound and hated recording in a dead-quiet room where he felt that he sounded like a disembodied voice. It was always fun to cover a story with him.
World News Roundup Late Edition Anchor Bill Whitney was smooth as silk, and easy to crack up during our sound checks before live shots. He was also a skilled and talented longform anchor. He was truly unflappable.
Jim Krasula works from Greensboro, North Carolina, and could-and still can-parachute into any situation at any time, and get the gist of a story quickly to get it on the air. He’s been a key player for hurricanes and other severe weather stories, as well as numerous mass shootings and other breaking news coverage. There’s no better teammate on a breaking story.
Steve Futterman in Los Angeles was another “parachute guy” who could drop into any story at any time. He lived-and still lives-to cover breaking stories at any time, any place. These days he’s reporting for NPR and the CBC.
Lee Frank was based in Denver. He covered the Jon Benet Ramsey story, was part of the Space Shuttle Columbia and Hurricane Katrina teams, and more. An audio whiz, Lee is in demand for TV productions in Denver and elsewhere.
Tom Foty anchored from Washington after years as a roving correspondent for other organizations…he was a work from home guy long before Covid, partly so he could take care of his mother. Sadly, Tom died just before he was to anchor during Christmas, 2024.
Bob Fuss was our congressional correspondent and overcame a disability to out-hustle the competition during a long career that took him from California to Washington. His memoir is a classic called Kidnapped by Nuns. He joined us from Mutual in 1998 and was a talented and wickedly funny guy.
Peter Maer was another ‘98 Mutual refugee who covered the White House from Carter to Obama and developed deep White House relationships that won him the respect and envy of competitors. He’s also the guy who coined the phrase used often in house, “CBS News Radio. The only network with two Peters.”
Mark Knoller covered the White House like no one else for several decades and was its unofficial historian, keeping track of almost every imaginable(and sometimes obscure) statistic involving the presidents. How many days did Obama play golf in any given year? How much toilet paper was used in the POTUS residence? Mark could probably have told you. He was a walking encyclopedia and other media came to him for those details.
Dave Barrett was a talented anchor and produced wonderful features, like one commemorating a milestone birthday for Dave Brubeck. He was also a space geek, and I remember him as being as happy as a kid on Christmas morning when covering the final shuttle launch with me in 2011. Dave was a generous friend and mentor to many.
Steven Portnoy was not only our last full time White House correspondent; for a year he was President of the White House Correspondent’s Association, during the first Trump term. A no-nonsense reporter who was our on air leader during live coverage of the January 6th Capitol insurrection. Steven’s now at ABC News.
Deborah Rodriguez joined us from WCBS in 2018 to anchor morning drive. She also produces many feature stories using sound to the fullest. Debbie is a gifted writer; she loves writing for the ear-and she’s done it well for the early morning commuters who want to know what happened while they were sleeping.
Steve Kathan is the last of a long line of outstanding anchors in the World News Roundup “big chair.” Steve and I were coworkers briefly in Syracuse in 1980. Little known fact: He was a writer and producer here for ten years before getting a shot at anchoring newscasts. And he was the anchor when David Letterman did many of his “Roundup” references on “Late Night.”
Jennifer Keiper is based in Chicago, anchoring afternoon drive and reporting on the midwest. A friendship began when she, working for Fox, saw me in technical distress on a campaign trip and brought me dinner. Her secret passion? Cool cars! She was the last anchor for the now-cancelled World News Roundup Late Edition.
Allison Keyes anchors and reports from Washington. She was the anchor and producer for CBS’s Weekend Roundup broadcast and podcast, which was, sadly, cancelled in our last round of budget cuts.
Cami McCormick is the ultimate journalist who never met a breaking news story she didn’t want to cover. That includes Hurricane Katrina, 9/11 in New York, and nine tours in Iraq during the war and its aftermath. Cami was badly injured in an IED explosion in Afghanistan but returned to CBS News a year later and refused to look back. She’s been one of the best anchors and reporters ever.
London Correspondent Vicki Barker is our “foreign desk” and along with breaking stories, we love her for her sometimes quirky stories out of the UK.
Elaine Cobbe reported for us from Paris for decades. To me, her shining moment was coverage of the fire that devastated Notre Dame, but there were so many other big stories out of Paris.
Linda Kenyon and Stacy Lynn have done double duty, alternating between anchoring newscasts out of Washington and covering the White House. Christopher Cruise and Michael Toscano are also Washington anchors.
Writers/editors/producers who assemble newscasts have been essential to the secret sauce that is CBS News Radio. Roger Norum had a knack for coming up with a word or phrase when I was hopelessly stuck. Harry Dank would often call me late at night for corrections on a piece I’d already filed. Dave Shapiro was, and is, the coolest editor under fire. Bill Deane always encouraged me to file when I was a local reporter and stringer in Orlando. Dan Preisendanz always felt there was never enough he could do for his anchors. Paul Farry honored me by requesting that I be one of the designated substitutes for the World News Roundup. When multiple stories were breaking and feeds coming in simultaneously, Greg Armstrong on the assignment desk would say, “Roll on everything!” Arleen Lebe and Duane Tolleson often-and properly-made me think twice about something I’d written. Dianne James was low key but passionate about journalism, and had a wonderful sense of humor. Matt Cherry’s humor and dedication made it a pleasure to wake up at an ungodly hour to sub for Debbie in morning drive.
And let’s not forget the desk assistants who are amazing at playing traffic cop, hunting down sources and resources and keeping us on the rails. These entry level folks learn to perform like seasoned pros. Most have gone on to bigger and better things, while two of them, Craig Swagler and Dustin Gervais, became our top managers.
We do not get on the air without talented engineers and I-T people who, for decades, have pulled more than one correspondent’s ass out of a sling with his or her expertise. In many cases, they’ve rushed to replace broken equipment to those of us in remote locations, or talked us through trouble, from a distance. Not to mention the glitches that happen in-house. We don’t stay on the air without them. Gene Crawford and Hector Carrion have been our I-T gurus, answering calls at all hours when things go belly up. Mitch Glider, Sarah Fishman and Jack Horowitz are our final team of technical miracle workers. And when COVID hit and we had hours to abandon the broadcast center in New York and do everything remotely, The tech team and Senior VP Craig Swagler, a logistics guy at heart, made it happen. There were bumps and bruises along the way, but we stayed on the air, every hour, as always. Craig once told me that we do things that are hard-because we can.
Special Events Director Tony Brunton was our version of James Bond’s Q-Branch in the 90s. Carol Gillesberg was his right hand person and Michelle Cohen and Craig Swagler followed to make sure we had everything in place for daily and big even coverage. Executive Producer Charlie Kaye was always cool and incredibly organized under pressure when it came to breaking news coverage. He put longform coverage together in real time for a cohesive, seamless presentation that made us and our affiliates proud, and many felt he was truly the heart and soul of our newsroom.
Finally, a word about the top managers during my time. Larry McCoy could be very tough but loved his stringers. He reminded me that a radio story is a snapshot, a picture postcard, and helped me learn to focus better for short stories with that advice. Harvey Nagler never made a promise he couldn’t keep and kept every promise he made. Harvey, Mike Freedman (who brought Walter Cronkite back to CBS News Radio in 1998!) and Constance Lloyd took us into the 2000s with new energy and gave me a lot of room to be a “free range” reporter. They were instrumental in adding anchor duties to my portfolio. Craig Swagler is the last person with the Senior VP title for CBS News Radio and I knew when he first joined us in the new millenium that he’d eventually run the place. I’m glad I was right about that. Jennifer Brown and Dustin Gervais were his successors, desperately swimming upstream like salmon to try to keep the bear from devouring us. They deserved much better than they got from the “suits” upstairs. I’m grateful to have worked for them all.
I’ve often been told that I lead a charmed life. More than 3 decades at CBS News Radio is a perfect example of that. As CBS News Radio signs off the air, its legacy starts with Edward R. Murrow and the team he, Ed Klauber and Paul White assembled during World War ll. But the legacy also includes the thousands of people who kept the newswatch in the decades that followed. These are the people-and kinds of people-being shown the door after the last newscasts on Friday, May 22nd, 2026.
Paraphrasing our :03 break in each newscast, This was CBS News.
