Edward F. Hughes (March 30, 1938 – June 1, 2004) was a former news anchor best known for his longtime role as a news anchor for
Norfolk, Virginia
Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...
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 ...
affiliate
WTKR
WTKR (channel 3) is a television station licensed to Norfolk, Virginia, United States, serving the Hampton Roads area as an affiliate of CBS. It is owned by the E. W. Scripps Company alongside Portsmouth-licensed WGNT (channel 27), an independen ...
from 1967 (when the station was known as WTAR) until shortly before his death in 2004. In addition, he was also the morning news anchor at radio station
Z-104 for a time during the 1980s.
Early life and career
Hughes was a former
Navy
A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...
veteran who had spent four years as a fleet radio operator during his service in the Navy.
Hughes was first hired by what was then
WTAR-AM after having worked for television stations in
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...
and
WXEX-TV in
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), U.S. commonwealth of Virginia. Incorporated in 1742, Richmond has been an independent city (United States), independent city since 1871. ...
; later being added to what was then WTAR-TV.
Reputation
Hughes was a trusted anchor for 37 years, known for his ability to report a story in an unbiased fashion that did not favor one side over another. He never embellished a story or sensationalized it for the sake of ratings or to get attention. Hughes won numerous awards for journalism and broadcasting during his career; including
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
awards each year from 1972–84,
and especially enjoyed reporting on military news. During his tenure, Hughes had served as a reporter, news anchor and for a short time news director.
Hughes was the inspiration for the creation of "WSHS-TV," a news-like TV club at local Smithfield High School founded in 1991 by two senior school students.
He was often referred to as the "
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' from 1962 to 1981. During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trust ...
of
Hampton Roads
Hampton Roads is a body of water in the United States that serves as a wide channel for the James River, James, Nansemond River, Nansemond, and Elizabeth River (Virginia), Elizabeth rivers between Old Point Comfort and Sewell's Point near whe ...
."
Illness and death
Hughes had been diagnosed with
colon cancer
Colorectal cancer (CRC), also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine). Signs and symptoms may include blood in the stool, a change in bowel ...
in 2002; continuing to work as WTKR noon and 5:30 p.m. anchor as able; stepping aside to undergo
chemotherapy
Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...
in November 2002 before returning three months later,
but suffered a "very serious relapse" following surgery in August 2003.
He died on June 1, 2004, at the age of 66; leaving seven children and five grandchildren behind. Hughes was also married three times.
See also
References
External links
Guest comments on VARTV on Hughes' passing
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hughes, Ed
1938 births
2004 deaths
American television journalists
United States Navy officers
Deaths from colorectal cancer in Virginia
American male journalists