One heck of a ride’: Reporter Derrick Blakley retiring from WBBM CBS 2

[Y2kTheNewOldies]

https://www.robertfeder.com/2019/06/10/one-heck-ride-reporter-derrick-blakley-retiring-cbs-2/

Derrick Blakley, a Chicago original whose 41-year career in television news included prominent runs as a network correspondent and a local reporter for two stations here, announced his retirement Monday.

Blakley, 65, said his last day as political reporter at WBBM-Channel 2 will be June 27. He’s been employed at the CBS-owned station since 2003.

“After 41 years riding the roller coaster of daily television news deadlines, including the last 32 years in Chicago, I’ve concluded it’s time to turn the page,” he wrote on Facebook. “Just to ensure there are no misunderstandings, I wasn’t pushed. The decision was all mine.”

Before joining CBS 2, Blakley spent 16 years as a news anchor and reporter at NBC-owned WMAQ-Channel 5, and seven years as a correspondent for CBS News, based in Chicago, London and Bonn, Germany.

A native of Chicago’s South Side and multiple Emmy Award winner, he’s a graduate of Hales Franciscan High School, the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University and the University of Illinois. Early in his career he was a reporter for the Chicago Tribune and WBNS, the CBS affiliate in Columbus, Ohio.

Congrats to a legend at WBBM CBS 2 News.