One of the region's more substantial news figures, Keith Humphry (right) of WDBJ7, will retire at the end of May, ending 31 years at the station. Humphry, whose run at WDBJ7 as a reporter and anchor began in 1980, will broadcast for the final time May 27.Humphry, who is an award-winning journalist and a college instructor in journalism, may not disappear from the airwaves. News director Amy Morris said that Humphry has agreed to be involved in special projects for NEWS7.
He has anchored “NEWS7 at Six” for 31 years and has been involved as a reporter with a special interest in criminal cases. Humphry says, “WDBJ7 has let me follow any story wherever it led. No matter what the commercial impact or whose interest was at stake, if a story was worth telling, the company always backed me up.”
He has been the face of “NEWS7 at Six” longer than any other anchor. “Keith has set an example of great reporting for a couple of generations of young reporters,” observed WDBJ7 president and General Manager Jeffrey Marks. “NEWS7 is the solid news organization that it is in no small part because of Keith.”
From a personal standpoint, it is nice to see faces with a few lines and creases--veterans like those of Humphry, Joe Dashiel and Robin Reed--doing the news. The procession of hotties and studly do rights is tiresome in a business where integrity, skill and trust are of utmost importance. My belief is that Humphry, et al, have given WDBJ the stature in this market that has been dominant. We are, I think, more apt to believe these people because they've been around for a while and it's sad to see a good one go.
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