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Gordon Peterson (born 1938) is an American broadcast journalist and television
news anchor A news presenter – also known as a newsreader, newscaster (short for "news broadcaster"), anchorman or anchorwoman, news anchor or simply an anchor – is a person who presents news during a news program on TV, radio or the Internet. ...
. He was most recently the 6 p.m. co-anchor for
ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...
affiliate
WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...
and from 1988 to 2013 was also moderator and producer of '' Inside Washington'', a political roundtable discussion about current political events in Washington. He has won multiple
Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...
during his broadcast career.


Life and career

Peterson has worked at Washington, D.C. local news stations for most of his career. He worked for
CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...
-affiliated WUSA (Channel 9) as the news anchor for 35 years before switching to rival station WJLA (Channel 7) after WUSA station management decided to cut his airtime. Peterson graduated from the
College of the Holy Cross The College of the Holy Cross is a private Jesuit liberal arts college in Worcester, Massachusetts, United States. It was founded by educators Benedict Joseph Fenwick and Thomas F. Mulledy in 1843 under the auspices of the Society of Jesus. ...
and attended
Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...
without finishing a degree program. He became news director for AM radio station WNEB in his hometown of
Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Massachusetts, second-most populous city in the U.S. state of Massachusetts and the list of United States cities by population, 113th most populous city in the United States. Named after Worcester ...
before moving to CBS's
Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
affiliate, WEEI. He also served as an officer in the
United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines or simply the Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for conducting expeditionar ...
. Peterson first arrived in Washington in the fall of 1969, working as a reporter for both WTOP radio and television, and within two years was named co-anchor with fellow staffer Max Robinson of ''The Big News'', which later evolved into ''
Eyewitness News ''Eyewitness News'' is a style of television presentation that emphasizes visual elements and action videos, instead of the older ,"man-on-camera" style of newscast, and is most prominently featured in the New York City metropolitan area. Hi ...
''. He would remain the main anchor at Channel 9 for 33 years amid many changes on and off-camera. For most of that period he co-anchored with Maureen Bunyan, with whom he was reunited on the 6 p.m. news on WJLA-TV in December 2004. Viewers also enjoyed Peterson's banter with sportscaster Glenn Brenner, who was the city's most popular broadcast journalist from 1977 until his death in 1992. Brenner often ribbed Peterson for his lifelong support of the also-ran
Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...
major league baseball team. Brenner and Peterson became close friends, and their jokes at one another's expense became local legend. After
Martin Agronsky Martin Zama Agronsky ( ; January 12, 1915 – July 25, 1999), also known as Martin Agronski, was an American journalist, political analyst, and television host. He began his career in 1936, working under his uncle, Gershon Agron, at the ''The Je ...
retired as moderator of '' Agronsky & Co.'' in 1988, Peterson became producer and moderator of the show, which was retitled ''Inside Washington''. In early September 2013, Gordon Peterson announced that ''Inside Washington'' would cease production in late December 2013 after a continuous run of 25 years. The last new episode of ''Inside Washington'' aired in December 2013. It was announced on November 7, 2014, that Peterson would retire from WJLA-TV when his contract was to expire at the end of the year. His last newscast with the station aired on December 31.


See also

* '' Inside Washington'' * '' Agronsky & Co.'' * ''
Washington Week ''Washington Week'', originally titled as ''Washington Week in Review'' and billed as ''Washington Week with the Atlantic'' since 2023, is an American public affairs television program, which has aired on PBS and its predecessor, National Educa ...
''


References


External links


Biography
at
WJLA-TV WJLA-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Washington, D.C., affiliated with ABC. It is one of two flagship stations of Sinclair Broadcast Group (alongside dual Fox/MyNetworkTV affiliate WBFF hannel 45in Baltimore), and is also sister ...
website. {{DEFAULTSORT:Peterson, Gordon American male journalists 20th-century American journalists Television anchors from Washington, D.C. United States Marine Corps officers Georgetown University alumni College of the Holy Cross alumni Living people Mass media people from Worcester, Massachusetts 1938 births 21st-century American journalists Journalists from Massachusetts Military personnel from Massachusetts