Former WBBM news director John Madigan has died from complications of a stroke, according to the station. He was 94.
The veteran newsman began his career in the 1930s as a reporter for the Chicago American newspaper. He moved to Washington, DC as a reporter for Newsweek; during his time there, he was the first moderator of CBS’ “Face the Nation.” He later joined WBBM, the Chicago CBS O&O, as news director, where he famously hired two of the station’s most high-profile journalists.
“CBS was his home,” his wife, Elizabeth, told the station. “He hired Bill Kurtis and Walter Jacobson.”
Madigan later moved to WBBM radio, where he was instrumental in the station’s transition to an all-news format in 1968.
“We would have three television sets going at one time,” Madigan’s daughter Amy told the Chicago Tribune. “They were on all the time. He read copious amounts of newspapers, magazines and political books.”