Al Sanders (March 13, 1941 - May 5, 1995) was an American television news

anchorman 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 ...

WJZ-TV WJZ-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Baltimore, Maryland, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division, and maintains studios and offices on Tele ...

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the List of municipalities in Maryland, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, and List of United States cities by popula ...

. He helped take a third place television newscast to first place, where it stayed throughout his career.

Background

In 1967 Sanders, as Al Gay, worked for radio station

KXLW KXLW (96.3 The Moose) is a commercial country music radio station in Houston, Alaska, broadcasting to the Anchorage, Alaska area on 96.3 FM. It is owned by Ohana Media. Its studios are located in Downtown Anchorage and its transmitter is in Eag ...

, in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, whic ...

. In 1969, he left for competitor

KWK KWK may refer to: *KWK, former call sign of the radio station KXFN *KWK-FM, former call sign of the radio station WARH *KWK-TV, former call sign of the television station KMOV *KwK, abbreviation of Kampfwagenkanone *KWK, abbreviation of Kode With K ...

, where he adopted the name Al Sanders, the on-air alias that would follow him through the rest of his career. Sanders joined WJZ-TV in 1972. Five years later, he would replace Oprah Winfrey as Jerry Turner's co-anchor. Turner and Sanders were Baltimore's top news team until 1987, when Turner succumbed to

esophageal cancer Esophageal cancer is cancer arising from the esophagus—the food pipe that runs between the throat and the stomach. Symptoms often include difficulty in swallowing and weight loss. Other symptoms may include pain when swallowing, a hoarse vo ...

. Denise Koch joined Sanders on the anchor desk as a fill-in, gaining the role permanently in 1988. Sanders won

Emmy Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

s in 1993 and 1994 for his regularly featured specialty report, "Picture This." In March 1995, Sanders was diagnosed with

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

. Sanders died at the

Johns Hopkins Hospital The Johns Hopkins Hospital (JHH) is the teaching hospital and biomedical research facility of the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, located in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. It was founded in 1889 using money from a bequest of over $7 million (1873 ...

on May 5, 1995, and was replaced by

Vic Carter Vic (; es, Vic or Pancracio Celdrán (2004). Diccionario de topónimos españoles y sus gentilicios (5ª edición). Madrid: Espasa Calpe. p. 843. ISBN 978-84-670-3054-9. «Vic o Vich (viquense, vigitano, vigatán, ausense, ausetano, ausonense): ...

, formerly of

WSB-TV WSB-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Atlanta, Georgia, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Cox Media Group, which has owned the station since its inception, and is sister to ...

in Atlanta.

Legacy

Each year, the Baltimore Community Foundation awards college scholarships in the name of Al Sanders for those students who are musically inclined. In Baltimore, the corner of

Druid Park Drive This is a list of notable streets in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, United States. A B C D E F G H Heath St. Route 64. (MTA Maryland) K L M N O P R Ramsay st S U W Y Numbered streets In Balt ...

and Malden Avenue, two blocks from WJZ-TV, was named Al Sanders Place. The adjoining block of Malden Avenue is named Jerry Turner Way, for his former broadcasting partner.

References

External links

Remembering Al Sanders
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Al 1941 births 1995 deaths Television anchors from Baltimore American television reporters and correspondents Deaths from lung cancer African-American journalists African-American television personalities American male journalists 20th-century African-American people