Mike Parker (reporter)

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Michael J. Fishel (September 27, 1943 – November 4, 2018), [1] known professionally as Mike Parker, was a news anchor and reporter for WBBM-TV in Chicago.

WBBM-TV CBS TV station in Chicago

WBBM-TV, virtual channel 2, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station licensed to Chicago, Illinois, United States. The station is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation. WBBM-TV's studios and offices are located on West Washington Street as part of the development at Block 37 in the Loop district, and its transmitter is located atop the Willis Tower on South Wacker Drive.

Chicago City in Illinois, United States

Chicago, officially the City of Chicago, is the most populous city in Illinois, as well as the third most populous city in the United States. With an estimated population of 2,716,450 (2017), it is the most populous city in the Midwest. Chicago is the principal city of the Chicago metropolitan area, often referred to as Chicagoland, and the county seat of Cook County, the second most populous county in the United States. The metropolitan area, at nearly 10 million people, is the third-largest in the United States, and the fourth largest in North America and the third largest metropolitan area in the world by land area.

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Early life and education

A native of Rock Island, Illinois, Parker earned a degree from Los Angeles City College. [2]

Rock Island, Illinois Place in Illinois, United States

Rock Island is a city in and the county seat of Rock Island County, Illinois, United States. The original Rock Island, from which the city name is derived, is the largest island on the Mississippi River. It is now called Arsenal Island. The population was 39,018 at the 2010 census. Located on the Mississippi River, it is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring Moline, East Moline, and the Iowa cities of Davenport and Bettendorf. The Quad Cities has a population of about 380,000. The city is home to Rock Island Arsenal, the largest government-owned weapons manufacturing arsenal in the US, which employs 6,000 people.

Los Angeles City College public community college in Los Angeles

Los Angeles City College (LACC) is a public community college in East Hollywood, Los Angeles. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard on the former campus of the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Professional career

Parker worked as the news director and as a reporter for KFI-AM radio in Los Angeles from 1969 until 1972. He also worked as an anchor, investigative reporter and general assignment reporter at KNXT (now KCBS-TV) in Los Angeles, from 1977 until 1980. [2]

KFI clear-channel news/talk radio station in Los Angeles

KFI is an AM radio station in Los Angeles, California, owned and operated by iHeartMedia. It received its license to operate on March 31, 1922 and began operating on April 16, 1922, and after a succession of power increases, became one of the United States' first high-powered, clear-channel stations. KFI is a Class A 50,000 watt, non-directional station. It airs a talk radio format, with mostly local hosts and frequent news updates.

KCBS-TV CBS television station in Los Angeles

KCBS-TV is a CBS owned-and-operated television station located in Los Angeles, California, United States. KCBS-TV is owned by the CBS Television Stations subsidiary of CBS Corporation as part of a duopoly with independent station KCAL-TV, generally referred to as their "sister station". The two stations share offices and studio facilities inside CBS Studio Center in the Studio City section of Los Angeles, and KCBS-TV's transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson.

In January 1980, Parker joined WBBM-TV in Chicago as a weekend news anchor and weekday general assignment reporter. He remained at WBBM-TV until 1985, when he chose not to renew his contract in order to join his wife, Mary Nissenson, who was working as a reporter for WABC-TV in New York. Parker then joined WABC himself as a general assignment reporter, remaining in New York until late 1986, when he returned to WBBM-TV as a weekend anchor. In 1987, Nissenson returned to Chicago, taking a reporting and substitute anchor job at WBBM-TV. [2] [3] [ better source needed ]

Mary Nissenson was an American television journalist, who also was an entrepreneur, social activist and university instructor.

WABC-TV ABC flagship television station in New York City

WABC-TV, channel 7, is the flagship station of the ABC television network, licensed to New York City. WABC-TV is owned by the ABC Owned Television Stations subsidiary of The Walt Disney Company. The station's studios and offices are located on Lincoln Square on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, adjacent to ABC's corporate headquarters; its transmitter is located at the Empire State Building.

In 1992, Parker was demoted as weekend news anchor and was replaced by Jay Levine, and filled in as a news anchor where needed. However, the bulk of his job involved being one of WBBM's star reporters, including on the ill-fated non-tabloid 10 p.m. newscast anchored by Carol Marin that ran for nine months in 2000.[ citation needed ]

Carol Marin is a television and print journalist based in Chicago, Illinois.

Parker was at WBBM-TV longer than any other full-time on-air personality. He retired from the station on May 31, 2016. [4] [5]

Personal and death

Parker was married and had two children in Los Angeles, when he began his relationship with his second wife, the television news anchor and reporter, Mary Nissenson. They divorced in 1989. Parker married his third wife, Marian Ambrose, in 1992. They lived in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago's South Side. Parker was off the air for an extended period in 2001 after undergoing coronary bypass surgery and related complications. He eventually made a full recovery.

Parker died on November 4, 2018 at the age of 75. [1]

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References

  1. 1 2 Mike Parker, trusted anchor, reporter at CBS 2 for 35 years, dead at 75 Chicago Sun-Times, November 5, 2018
  2. 1 2 3 "Mike Parker biography" . Retrieved 2008-12-29.
  3. ↑ Toufexis, Anastasia (16 November 1987). "Sexes: Dual Careers, Doleful Dilemmas". Content.time.com. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
  4. ↑ CBS 2’s Mike Parker signing off RobertFeder.com, May 23, 2016
  5. ↑ CBS Chicago (2 June 2016). "Farewell, Mike Parker". YouTube . Retrieved 5 November 2018.
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