The first Presidential Election WIDB covered was in November ’72.
Throughout the ’70s and most of the ’80s WIDB maintained a substantial and industrious news department. Under News Director Cliff Albert, newspersons were dispatched to Senator (Puchinski/Percy), Governor (Walker/Ogilvie), President (Nixon/McGovern) candidates’ campaign headquarters in Chicago.
Correspondents included Chris Bury (now at ABC TV Network News), Walt Leisering and Todd Cave (now at Turner Broadcasting/Time-Warner), Mike Slabik, Debbie Santarelli, Bob Comstock, and Rick Bronars.
There were live reports from WIDB reporters stationed in Chicago, Springfield, and in Jackson County. Anchoring the coverage at WIDB were Allan J. Friedman, Tom Cooper, and Cliff Albert. On election night, WIDB’s regular programming was pre-empted for over four hours by election coverage. Here are some short edited highlights.