From today’s Washington Post:
In a city of news junkies and scores of high-profile figures in politics and the media, the most-watched journalist in Washington may well have been Jim Vance. For more than 45 years at WRC-TV (Channel 4), he was the region’s longest-serving television news anchor. He presided over the area’s top-rated newscasts and became a public figure in his own right. He gained broad sympathy for his openness about his struggles with drugs and depression.
Mr. Vance, who was 75, died July 22. The death was announced by WRC-TV, where had worked since 1969, but no further details were provided. He announced his diagnosis with cancer earlier this year.
After three years as a reporter for Channel 4, Mr. Vance ascended to the anchor’s chair in 1972, putting him in the first wave of black news anchors in major news markets. In addition to reading the news, he also delivered pointed commentaries, often on sensitive racial topics.
Jim Vance won over a dozen individual and joint Emmies. His 11:00 PM newscast audience was bigger than the prime-time shows on all the major networks COMBINED (and Fox).
He struggled with some of the same things the rest of us struggle with only he never hid it. He was a good, decent man.