Name Ron Kershaw | ||
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Died July 1989, Chicago, Illinois, United States | ||
Ron Kershaw (1944 – July 3, 1988) was an American television news reporter. Kershaw was the news director in several U.S. markets, including New York City, Chicago and Baltimore.
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News director
In 1974, Kershaw was hired by WBAL-TV in Baltimore to shore up its sagging news ratings. He introduced the Action News format, hired new talent, and moved the station from last to first in less than a year. Sue Simmons and Spencer Christian were among Kershaw's protégés.
Kershaw moved on to WNBC-TV in New York, where he collaborated with Peter Sang in bringing the "control room" set into TV news. Kershaw was also mentor to Bucky Gunts, who worked for Kershaw in Baltimore and Chicago.
Personal life and death
While in Houston, Kershaw had been dating Jessica Savitch, a news reporter with a rival television station in Texas. Kershaw helped Savitch develop her reporting skills during their stormy ten-year relationship. The relationship was depicted in the made for television movie: Almost Golden, about Savitch's life.
In 1987, Kershaw met Giselle Fernandez, whom he had hired as a reporter at WBBM-TV. They were engaged to be married when Kershaw died of pancreatic and liver cancer on July 3, 1988 at age 44. Kershaw is survived by his son, Beau Kershaw, a photojournalist at Kershaw's old station, WBAL-TV in Baltimore.