Willard "Bill" Whitney is an American broadcast journalist. He is best known for his work as an anchor and correspondent for the

CBS Radio Network CBS News Radio, formerly known as CBS Radio News and historically known as the CBS Radio Network, is a radio network that provides news to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by Paramount Global. It ...

, where he hosted the evening edition of the ''

World News Roundup The ''CBS World News Roundup'' is the longest-running network radio newscast in the United States. It airs weekday mornings and evenings on the CBS Radio Network. It first went on-air on March 13, 1938, at 8 p.m. ET as a one-time special in res ...

''.

Early career

Before joining

CBS News CBS News is the news division of the American television and radio service CBS. CBS News television programs include the ''CBS Evening News'', ''CBS Mornings'', news magazine programs '' CBS News Sunday Morning'', '' 60 Minutes'', and '' 48 H ...

, Whitney, who began his career in broadcasting at the age of 17, worked his way up through the ranks at a variety of local radio stations including

WKEN WKEN is a radio station licensed to Kenton, Ohio broadcasting on 88.5 FM. WKEN airs a Christian contemporary music format and is owned by Soaring Eagle Promotions, Inc. The station operates in a simulcast with sister station WSOH. On Decembe ...

in Dover, Delaware; WGSM in

Huntington, New York The Town of Huntington is one of ten towns in Suffolk County, New York. Founded in 1653, it is located on the north shore of Long Island in northwestern Suffolk County, with Long Island Sound to its north and Nassau County adjacent to the west. ...

; WLIX in

Islip, New York Islip ( ) is a town in Suffolk County, New York, United States, on the south shore of Long Island. The population was 335,543 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth most populous city or town in the state. The Town of Islip also contains a ...

; and

WGBB WGBB (1240 AM) is a radio station licensed to Freeport, New York and serving Nassau County, New York. It is Long Island's oldest radio station, founded in 1924. It broadcasts the Chinese–language "Chinese Radio Network" and various English and ...

Freeport, New York Freeport is a village in the town of Hempstead, in Nassau County, on the South Shore of Long Island, in New York state. The population was 43,713 at the 2010 census, making it the second largest village in New York by population. A settlemen ...

. From 1979 to 1982, Whitney worked as anchor/news director at

WCBS-FM WCBS-FM (101.1 FM) is a radio station offering a classic hits format licensed to New York City and is owned and operated by Audacy, Inc. The station's studios are in the combined Audacy facility in the Hudson Square neighborhood in lower Manhat ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. He began his employ with the national CBS Radio unit in the early 1980s as one of the original anchors for CBS' young-adult oriented news service, RadioRadio.

CBS News

Whitney moved full-time to the main CBS Radio Network in 1984. During that time he filled in for

Charles Osgood Charles Osgood Wood III (born January 8, 1933), known professionally as Charles Osgood, is an American radio and television commentator, writer and musician. Osgood is best known for being the host of ''CBS News Sunday Morning'', a role he held ...

on ''The Osgood File'' and did commentaries under the ''Sidebar'' title. He covered a number of major news stories, including

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...

's U.S. tour and the Balkan peace talks in

Dayton, Ohio Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Day ...

which led to the

Dayton Accord The General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, also known as the Dayton Agreement or the Dayton Accords ( Croatian: ''Daytonski sporazum'', Serbian and Bosnian: ''Dejtonski mirovni sporazum'' / Дејтонски мир� ...

. Whitney anchored the ''CBS World News Roundup - Late Edition'' as well as hourly news broadcasts throughout the day. He also served as a substitute anchor for the morning edition of the ''Roundup.'' Whitney did his final broadcast for CBS on December 1, 2016. A number of executives and on-air personnel (including Whitney) had taken buyouts in the face of a wave of layoffs.

Personal life

Whitney lives in

Wyckoff, New Jersey Wyckoff is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population was 16,585. At the time of the 2010 census, the township's population was 16,696, reflecting an increase of ...

with his wife Peg and glorious Labrador, Ernie. The Whitneys have four daughters: Maggie, Alice, Grace and Mary.

Honors

* Edward R. Murrow Award: (2000) For Best Network Newscast *Edward R. Murrow Award: (2001) For Best Writing

References

Bill Whitney's bio
from Westwood One Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male journalists American reporters and correspondents People from Wyckoff, New Jersey {{US-journalist-20thC-stub