{"id":8540,"date":"2015-08-17T06:00:40","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T11:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=8540"},"modified":"2015-09-18T11:45:28","modified_gmt":"2015-09-18T16:45:28","slug":"abc-7s-paul-meincke-downshifting-to-part-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2015\/08\/17\/abc-7s-paul-meincke-downshifting-to-part-time\/","title":{"rendered":"ABC 7 reporter Paul Meincke \u2018downshifting to part-time\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Paul<\/a>

<\/a> Paul Meincke<\/p><\/div>\n

We\u2019ll soon be seeing a lot less of Paul Meincke, the WLS-Channel 7 <\/a>reporter widely respected and admired as one of Chicago television\u2019s all-time best.<\/p>\n

After 30 years at the ABC-owned station, Meincke is retiring from the day-to-day grind. Under an agreement expected to be signed this week, he\u2019ll deliver occasional reports for ABC 7 on stories that interest him.<\/p>\n

Meincke, who turns 65 next month, will be toasted by friends and co-workers September 18 \u2014 his last day of full-time employment at the station.<\/p>\n

\u201cPaul Meincke is the gold standard,\u201d said veteran anchorman Ron Magers, a longtime colleague at ABC 7. \u201cEvery journalist who ever worked with him or near him could have learned valuable lessons just by watching him work.\u00a0I know I did and I\u2019m grateful for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meincke joined ABC 7 in 1985 from WEWS-TV, the ABC affiliate in Cleveland. Highlights of his three decades on the air here define the essence of general assignment reporting.<\/p>\n

He covered the first Persian Gulf War, filing reports for all ABC-owned stations. He remained extraordinarily calm and professional when he\u00a0donned a bulletproof vest and helped Chicago police resolve a hostage standoff. He clung to a tree in chilly waters when the boat he was in sank while covering a flood. He continued to broadcast live without missing a beat after lightning struck the antenna of his TV truck, sending a jolt through his microphone and up his left arm. He brought the political corruption trials of two governors \u2014 George Ryan and Rod Blagojevich \u2014 to the largest television audiences in Chicago.<\/p>\n

\u201cI've been supremely privileged to work with some of the best in the business \u2014 at a station where colleagues are like family \u2014 in a city that I consider to be the best \u2018news town\u2019 in America,\u201d Meincke said with typical grace and generosity.<\/p>\n

\u201cForty-three years in the business \u2014 the last 30 in Chicago \u2014 has gone by in a blink, and I'm ever conscious of parental wisdom: \u2018Life is short. Live it to the fullest.\u2019 With that in mind, I'm downshifting to part-time status and plan on spending most of my days pursuing great adventures \u2014 traveling with my wife, another cross-country bike ride, paddling the Mississippi from top to bottom, and backpacking on some mountain somewhere \u2014 provided my body does not pose violent objection.\u201d<\/p>\n

A native of Moline, Illinois, and graduate of Augustana College, Meincke began in television news at WHBF-TV, the CBS affiliate in Rock Island, Illinois, where he met and married his co-anchor, Wendy Ellis. They have four grown sons.<\/p>\n

Meincke was honored last May with induction in the prestigious Silver Circle of the Chicago\/Midwest chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.<\/p>\n

Of his plans to contribute reports from time to time, Meincke added: \u201cI'll still be keeping my hand in news. Guess it's in my blood.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ll soon be seeing a lot less of Paul Meincke, the WLS-Channel 7 reporter widely respected and admired as one of Chicago television\u2019s all-time best. After 30 years at the ABC-owned station, Meincke is retiring from the day-to-day grind. Under an agreement expected to be signed this week, he\u2019ll deliver occasional reports for ABC 7... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8540"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8540"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8540\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8551,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8540\/revisions\/8551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8540"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8540"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8540"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}