Is Jim Gardner leaving Action News?

PHILADELPHIA news host Jim Gardner signed for the last time Tuesday night after a career spanning four and a half decades with 6ABC Action News.

Jim Gardner started as a presenter for 6ABC in 1977 and expressed hope that he was more than fulfilling his duty to viewers, who watched nightly at 11 o’clock. dark.

2

Why did Jim Gardner retire?

Jim Gardner left a 45-year legacy on January 12 when he said goodbye to the 6ABC news family and his viewers one last time.

According to 6ABC president and general manager, Bernie Prazenica, he won’t leave the station until the end of the year.

The 11 p.m. anchor position will be filled by longtime 6ABC correspondent Rick Williams, who will officially take over the position on January 12.

Following the announcement, Gardner moved to the 6pm location as an anchor along with Ducis Rodgers and Cecily Tynan.

For the past few years, Garder has considered retirement but said the constant news from former President Donald Trump’s four-year term to the Covid-19 pandemic was too exciting to walk away.

However, last year he made the final decision to retire from journalism in the hope of ending his career with 6ABC like meteorologist Dave Rogers retired in 2009.

Rogers ended his career with the station by switching to 6pm mode, prompting Gardner to do the same.

“For many of us, Jim is the last news voice we hear before the end of our day. He has guided us through the good and the bad with calm confidence for over 40 years, often reassuring us that tomorrow will bring a better day,” Prazenica said in an interview. with Philadelphia Inquirer.

“Thankfully, we have another year with him on the 6 p.m. news, and we look forward to his continued presence and leadership.”

What has he been through in his 45-year career?

Gardner is 73 years old this year, started working at 6ABC on May 11, 1977, when he was 28 years old.

His first segment reported on the SEPTA board voting to increase fares on city buses, trolleybuses, and subways from 35 cents to 45 cents, Houston won the Sixers, 118 to 94, and Philly’s lost to the Giants in a landslide victory of 42-2.

Although Gardner is the host of 6ABC’s Action News, much of his more historic reporting takes place in the field, and often, abroad.

In 1985, Gardner arrived at the Rein Mein airport base outside Frankfurt, West Germany when the American hostages are freed Lebanon.

He departs for Russia in 1991 to report on the collapse of the Soviet Union and at the local level including every Democratic and Republican congress since 1980.

“Rick has the rare combination of being a great messenger and an even better person!” Tom Davis, 6ABC’s vice president of news, told Philly’s voice.

“He really won the respect and trust of the viewers.”

2

What did Jim Gardner say in his final segment?

Jim Gardner ended his final night as an 11pm presenter on the 6ABC Action Newsletter with words of tribute to his colleagues and audiences who had placed their trust in him and broadcasters.

His first 11 p.m. newsletter was “about 16,500 newsletters ago,” says Gardner, adding, “Our goal for each newsletter … was to present a responsible report, Accurate, thoughtful and engaging about the happenings of the day.

No one is more grateful than I am for the special, no, only relationship between Action News and you, our viewers. In a sense, we won a bargain a long time ago.

“We respect and are committed to honest and fair reporting, and you trust us too. And I can’t help but feel that’s happening here in a way that’s more authentic and even intimate than any other. other place.

“Everybody at this station appreciates that. And no one more than me.”