Robert Jordan: Chicagos Premier Newsman

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Jordan started his college career as a pre-med major but said hes always had an interest in journalism.(Photo Courtesy of Robert H. Jordan, Jr.)
Jordan started his college career as a pre-med major but said hes always had an interest in journalism.(Photo Courtesy of Robert H. Jordan, Jr.)

For over 30 years, Robert H. Jordan, Jr. has been one of the most prominent figures in Chicago television news. Jordan is a weekend anchor for WGN-TVs News at Nine on channel nine in Chicago. He also reports, writes, and produces for the stations weekday newscasts.

Jordan first arrived at WGN in 1973 from WSM-TV in Nashville. He left channel nine in 1978 for CBS News Midwest Bureau but then returned to WGN in 1980 where he has remained ever since.

A native of Atlanta, Ga., Jordan grew up during the heart of the Civil Rights Movement.

When I was growing up there were no Blacks in television, Jordan said. They [Blacks] were mostly in the entertainment field or occasionally on the Ed Sullivan Show or you might see Blacks in movies but they were generally in sort of denigrating roles as maids or chauffeurs or as tap dancers or comedians. Never in real meaty roles that were actually characteristic of what real life in Black America was like.

In terms of race relations, Atlanta was more progressive than other Southern cities during the civil rights era however, but there was still segregation there and the city was often times the backdrop of many civil rights demonstrations. Jordan remembers the Ku Klux Klan being active in Georgia and also remembers Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy and other civil rights activists crusading against the organization.

The newsman began college in 1961 and says during that time the movement was in its hey day. He attended Morehouse College during the extraordinarily historic time while King, was an instructor there.

After earning a bachelors degree from Morehouse, Jordan earned a masters degree in speech from Northeastern Illinois University and a bachelors degree in general studies from Roosevelt University. The scholar also holds a Ph.D. in Philosophy of Education from Loyola University in Chicago Jordan said he decided to enhance his education with advanced degrees because he feels that education is an ongoing process.

I wish I had stayed in school even more, I would have gotten more degrees throughout my life, he said. I think that going and getting a Ph. D was something I wanted to do to look into television from a scholastic standpoint.

An ardent journalist, Jordan has written articles for the Chicago Tribune and hes even channeled into a creative side of his craft by writing two screenplays. The television news anchor is also contemplating teaching one day.

I thought that I may want to teach on the college level or even the high school level, he said. I wanted to be prepared just in case that opportunity came along.

Jordan has influenced an entire generation of journalists, including his daughter, Karen Jordan.

Karen is an anchor/reporter at ABC 7 Chicago. She often accompanied her father on weekend news assignments as a child. She would ride around in the crew car with me and go to stories when I was reporting in the streets and that went on for years, said Jordan.

Jordans wife is a teacher and the couple assumed Karen would follow her mothers footsteps when she majored in English at Spelman College. During her junior year at Spelman, Karen told her parents that she wanted to attend the prestigious Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University for a masters degree. She had good grades and got in on her own and that was the first we knew she was interested in journalism, said Jordan.

The proud father said it is an honor that his daughter decided to become a journalist. I smile every time I see her on the air, he told the Chicago Citizen.

When asked about the celebration of Black History Month, Jordan commented that its important that ethnic groups have a source of pride. In addition, he said that for so long the accomplishments of African Americans were not celebrated and Black History Month serves as a time of reflection. Jordan believes that the observance also serves as a time to inform youth that they can accomplish great things.

I think its important even today that young people realize that if you apply yourself in the right manner and work hard and study hard you can do wonderful things, he said. If you stay away from the temptation of the streets and the lure of the slick [and] easy life you can sail to enormous heights.

by Thelma SardinTwitter: @thelmasardin

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