ABC 7 fires AWOL weekend anchor Kevin Roy
Kevin Roy, who’s been a weekend morning news anchor and an award-winning reporter for ABC-owned WLS-Channel 7, was fired Monday after failing to show up for Sunday morning’s newscasts. He cited “physical exhaustion” as the reason.
Kevin Roy
It was the third time in recent months that Roy was a no-show at work. Once he missed a dayside reporting shift on a Wednesday. And last weekend was the second time he’d missed the two Sunday morning news blocks (from 6 to 7 a.m. and from 8 to 9:30 a.m.) he anchored with Stacey Baca, sources said. Since Baca had the day off, Roy was to have anchored last Sunday’s newscasts solo. When he didn’t appear, free-lance reporter Michelle Gallardo jumped into the anchor chair for the first half-hour, followed by reporter Ben Bradley, who hustled in from home and anchored the rest of the show.
Station officials confirmed that Roy was no longer employed, but declined to comment on the circumstances. “We elected not to renew his contract,” said Emily Barr, president and general manager of Channel 7. “We wish him well.”
On Tuesday afternoon, Roy released the following statement:
“I’m profoundly sorry that WLS has decided not to renew my contract when it expires, though I understand the reason. By failing to show up at my appointed time, I abused the station’s reliance on me. To those who might speculate on the reason, be assured that my problem is one of physical exhaustion only; I only wish I had taken the opportunity to take some time off, rather than try to muscle through. Chicago is my home, and WLS has been my refuge for 12 years. I’ll deeply miss my association with the station and my colleagues, but I’m committed to remaining here. Like Chicago itself, I need to have Big Shoulders. I hope to come through this having learned a valuable lesson in maturity.”
Roy, a Chicago area native who graduated from Oak Park and River Forest High School and the University of Missouri at Columbia, joined Channel 7 as a reporter in 1998 from KGW-TV in Portland, Ore. He was promoted to weekend news anchor in 2002.
Admired by his colleagues as a versatile and talented reporter, Roy had a particular knack for telling difficult stories with sensitivity. He won numerous awards for his reports about suicide, including “A Son of Suicide,” a series about his mother, Diane Marcus Roy, who took her life at age 51 in 1995. He also has covered movie critic Roger Ebert’s battles with cancer and related health issues with grace and delicacy.
Roy also wrote “The ABCs of Architecture,” a blog on architecture for the station’s website. It’s no longer accessible online.
blogs.vocalo.org
Emily Barr must have read yesterday’s post that Lester Holt was going to be in town tomorrow.
As a viewer, I found Kevin Roy to be a good reporter over the years. It’s a shame he became unreliable for the Sunday morning broadcasts. Perhaps he is having some personal difficulties we do not know about. I wish him well.
Personally, I didn’t care all that much for Kevin Roy as a reporter. But as a human being, I truly hope that whatever issues he is dealing with at this point in his life will be addressed and that he is able to move forward. Interestingly, when Hosea Sanders had personal problems, Barr was willing to give him a lifeline. To be clear, I’m not suggesting that Roy’s issues are similar, but I do wonder, if any overtures made to Roy to help him. I realize I’m assuming that Roy is having some personal issues (mental, emotional, substance or whatever), but of course there is the off-chance that he simply didn’t want to do this anymore. Whatever the case, all the best and God’s blessings to you, Kevin Roy.
Crazy. Sounds like something a part-time board op would do. I did watch Ben Bradley’s train wreck Sunday though, and now I know why that newscast sucked.
This would be a wonderful time for Auntie Emily to promote that young deaf woman who reports news stories on the 4 pm newscast. I think it is time for diversity to be put into action for sure.
Wasn’t there a story in the Tribune a few weeks ago about Kevin Roy putting his mansion on Southport for sale? Maybe he knew it was time to look for something different. Maybe this past Sunday he had to show the house.
Where was Angela Lake to jump in when she was needed?
Weekend anchor spot on WFLD is open.
I’m sad that ABC7 chose not to renew Kevin Roy’s contract. I understand where they are coming from and I hope that he sorts out his issue and can find another job in Chicago. I will always remember Kevin Roy for the help he gave me when I was in college and when I was choosing a college to get a journalism degree. For a class where I needed to interview a member of the media. He took the time out of his day to call me and agreed to be interviewed.
I respect Emily Barr and suspect her reasons are valid. Channel 7 is not known for firing errant employees. Missing three shifts, especially a solo anchor shift, without warning suggests unreliability no matter what the cause. I’m going to guess he was given appropriate warning. It’s too bad. He’s a good reporter and a nice guy.
Hope there really is nothing going on under the surface and wish him well.
As a manager, when a team member repeatedly fails to report to work, I’ve found it’s a symptom of some underlying issue or problem. Losing a job is unfortunate, especially when the employee expresses he is “profoundly sorry” about being terminated. Hopefully Mr. Roy will make whatever mid-course correction he needs to, and finds peace in the months and years ahead.
What was he thinking? Kevin Roy was a reporter I respected, and he is a reporter/anchor in the nation’s third largest TV market. He had what I would see as everything someone in this business would want. Why would be blow such a fantastic opportunity like this one? I have employees who have worked for me in retail that are more responsible than he is. He should be fired for his lack of responsibility. It’s called “vacation time” or short/long term disability. I suggest he research all of those options and use them, with his future employer.
You would think that someone who is “exhausted” would get a doctor to verify this; I understand that we all have our demons; but this is just sad. Roy wasn’t a bad guy on air; I wish him well.
Kevin was my favorite anchor and reporter on abc7! How stupid of the station to let him go. We will miss him!!!
When you forget to show up for work three times “in recent months” you have a substance issue. Period. And for a TV station to let someone go three times and not show up for a shift is just as screwy. Anyone reading this try not to show up for your gig three times without calling and see how fast your butt is on the sidewalk.
Therein lies the problem in the entertainment business. It is a business that is so OK with this type of behavior that management just allows this type of effort to happen. Somebody get me a job there. I’ll just work Thursday and Friday then take Monday through Wednesday off.
Don’t put it on him. Put it on management. For accepting substance induced actions rather than firing him after the first no show.
Reverse discrimantion? Didn’t they give Hosea Sanders time off for drug abuse?!
This is one of the saddest stories I’ve read in a long time. I hope Kevin gets some help.
And props to James Edwards for mentioning the great Angela Lake story! For those who don’t remember or weren’t around, Angela Lake was a 24-year-old desk assistant at Channel 2 who promoted herself to anchorwoman in 1990 during a Sunday night newsbreak. Lake randomly had been sitting at the anchor desk (recall that Channel 2′s anchor desk was situated in the newsroom back in 1990) just after 9PM on a Sunday night when newsroom officials discovered that a scheduled newsbreak for 9:35PM had been moved up to 9:20PM. Weekend news anchors Mike Parker and Elizabeth Vargas stupidly were outside the station at 9:20PM (that alone actually should have prompted a serious reprimand of Parker and Vargas by then-GM Johnathan Rodgers), leaving no one to anchor. Lake then told a stage manager that she had permission to read the newsbreak herself, which she did. As Feder himself wrote in covering the episode in 1990, with seconds to go, “no one questioned Lake’s authority,” and she became Chicago’s shortest-lived anchorwoman in broadcast history. The best line was from then-acting news director Joe Kolina, who called it a “sad comedy of errors.”
As for this past Sunday, ABC-7 producer John Klein should have stepped in!
Just a sad situation for a really talented guy, but part of the job description is to show up for your assigned duties on cerain days and to be a professional and not weasel out becuase you’re tired. hell, we’re all tired but that’s life and to throw away a great job in the third biggest market has to be the dumbest move one can make. Maybe he got sick of working with Baca, I don’t know, but maybe Channel 7 can also trim a half hour off that Sunday morning newscast at 8 AM too, but Emily did the right thing here. She had no other choice.
I am shocked that Channel 7 fired Kevin Roy while keeping his untalented co anchor Stacey Baca.
Kevin Roy had just broadcast a special on suicide.
And, given that he dealt with this issue after his own personal tragedy, the suicide of his own mother, I can understand how this would have affected him. He is only human.
Obviously, dealing with this, was overwhelming.
I understand, as a manager, how difficult it is when employees are not at their posts.
However, with so few talented reporters and so many mediocre ones, this is simply wrong and the decision needs to be reversed.
I find it very interesting that people only see or believe what they want without knowing actual facts. It is most unfortunate that the events surrounding Kevin’s career ending at Channel 7 are EVEN discussed in a public forum. I mean what if it were you in a similar senario? Who needs people speculating or being judgemental for the sake of idol conversation? I say have a little compassion for the guy! I’m sure he is going through a hurricane of emotions right now and support rather than negativity is going to be what will make the difference in getting him back on air and in our homes to view journalism at its best! Fact: a great reporter will no longer be delivering the news on Channel 7, it is the viewers that miss out. :( Get a life Haters! (Marie Z) perhaps?
Who is up watching television at six o’clock on Sunday morning? Most local TV “news” is bad enough at a reasonable hour.
Let me play the reverse race card for Jesse Jackson: why does Hosea get a free pass while Kevin gets the door?!
I’m pretty tired too. Yet I’m able to show up for work at, I’m guessing, a lot smaller salary than Roy makes.
Mr. Roy could go to Fox; that is, if he wants to become an insensitive jerk
Physical exhaustion can be a symptom of depression. Given Mr. Roys’ family history, I hope ABC at least tries to see that he gets some help rather than just kicking him to the curb.
I see a discrimination suit. Could it be that they gave Hoesa a 2nd chance but someone that is gay doesn’t get a break?
Let us pray that Mr. Roy doesn’t end up making the news as a result of his “physical exhaustion.”
I love this blog!
It’s truly sad to see others poke fun at another person’s troubles, or attempt to bring the supposed “race card” into the mix when discussing a private, personnel matter. To recklessly insert race is a simple-minded, low-resolution, racially charged rhetorical appeal to the lowest common denominator. It’s a very TIRED and LAME script that’s not funny or creative. Yawn… :)
Note to Newhouser—believe that was Jay Levine and Elizabeth Vargas not Mike Parker? Think that’s right.
Kevin Roy had a killer schedule not unlike a lot of folks at 7. They are famous for their sunup to sundown shifts. And it’s not the most humane news room to work in considering their top status in the market. Not saying that is an excuse for Kevin’s behavior but it probably is a consideration if your life is unraveling.
Leave the race card out, please. Boy, some of you adults…
Hosea only smoked weed, moreover, he still showed up for work and did his job so why are you guys even comparing the two?
Well Said Ken!! I completely Agree. Good luck to you, Kevin. Hope to see you again very soon.
Give the man a break.
Those of you who are speculating and/or condemning him have no idea what you are doing.
You don’t know the full story.
Best of luck to you, Kevin!
To #20…Help me out here…what exactly was hateful about my comments? I stated that as a reporter, he wasn’t a personal fav of mine. But as a human being I wish him nothing but the best. Relax, will you?
I agree with J. Medley, it is unfortunate that people would suggest reverse race discrimination in this sad set of occurences. Kevin Roy was one of my favorites, but he missed on-air assignments with no advance warning! This is totally unacceptable and also very different than Hosea Sanders’ off-air problems. Emily Barr gave them both a 2nd chance, she didn’t fire Kevin after the first incident, did she? Nor did she discriminate – reverse or otherwise.
Sounds fishy to me!
We say things about news people that we’d never dream of saying to close friends or relatives. I’m guilty. I’ve made terribly insensitive comments about Linda Yu hiding her true age, Jerry Taft’s sausage neck, etc. We’re being smart alecks when we make with the wisecracks. We know this…yet we continue to poke fun. (Or at least some of us do.) Though I do try to hold back when I sense a news personality (or any public figure) is damaged goods.
We have the advantage of anonymity. Jerry Taft isn’t going to come hunting me down, waving a 5-iron in my face, chasing me around my front lawn. So I’m safe. But it’s still not nice, even if I sense a Linda Yu and a Jerry Taft can take a hard ribbing. Kevin Roy always struck me as tightly wound. A talented man ready to snap. It’s his manner on camera. Contrast him with Evelyn Holmes or Theresa Guitierrez and their apparent comfort levels. You could jerk Guitierrez out of bed and shove her, in ratty flannel pajamas, into an old raincoat, and prop her up from a dead sleep at 2 a.m. on the Addison overpass above the Kennedy, and tell her to give you 90 seconds on the falling snow…and she’d wing it without notes and you’d never notice. I don’t think all of them have her quirky skill. Those who do are fotunate, I’d guess. The rest force themselves. And I doubt any of the general assignment reporters at any of these stations are getting rich. I’d like to see Mr. F. comment on the salary range for those doing the true grunt work. We have this idea they’re all earning $250,000+ and I don’t believe that’s true. I suspect they’d laugh at us for thinking so. I suspect those jobs chew folks up over time. That sort of work can’t be healthy for them.
We watched the weekend am news specifically because of Kevin Roy … and there is not much selection at that time for local news. Anyhow, he is a talent and I’m sure he’ll get a new job. You can’t blame anyone for firing him. There is this invention called the phone and it should be used the night before minimally to give someone a heads up. Heck, even a text message might have done the trick. At least in terms of giving him a second chance.
i absolutely hate Channel 7 news and refuse to watch it. i read the story about Kevin Roy and i can’t help but wonder why Kevin Roy was fired for his personal issues, yet Hosea Sanders was sent to rehab for his.
i dont know either of these men and wont speculate on their problems, but it clearly seems like Sanders was treated better than Roy.
just another reason to despise Channel 7 news and the whole worthless group, especially Linda Yu, Ron Magers, Cheryl Burton, Charles Thomas, Roz Varon, that idiot Chuck Goudie and the arrogant, annoying Jim Rose and Jerry Taft.
get them all off the air. better yet, order an air strike, enter the coordinates for the Channel 7 studio at State and Lake.
“Hosea only smoked weed, moreover, he still showed up for work and did his job so why are you guys even comparing the two”
only weed?? sounds like your smoking too much your self. he missed work too and was AWOL. i have a felling that Hosea was into substances a lot stronger than weed. JUST an OPINION.
Failing to show up for work THREE times without notice would be enough to get anyone fired. Why should Kevin have gotten any special treatment? If he felt ‘burned out’ he should have gotten help. I hope he does now. and I do sincerely wish him luck – but don’t blame ABC for their decision.
Discrimination? Puhleeze.
IF he has a substance abuse problem……how do you know abc7 didn’t offer rehab and Kevin declined because his problem is ‘physical exhaustion only’. If he wasn’t ready to confront it, I’d fire his ass too.
I do not want to speculate on what issues Kevin Roy may of had, but I do know that he was loyal for 11 1/2 and for these three instances, it seems a shame something couldn’t be worked out. I am very bummed he is no longer ther, I counted on seeing him each w/end. He was very personable and was the perfect guy for weekend a.m. I like Stacy but not solo. I don’t know what I’m gonna do, channel 2 totally got rid of their w/end broadcasts and can’t any channel 5 news. Farwell Kevin and I wish you well!
Kevin Roy was always one of my favorite anchors and the reason I watched ABC 7 news. I hope another station scoops him up fast.
I’m sorry to here thaT CHANNEL 7 fired Mr. Roy. Kevin was excellent reporter. Whatever problems Kevin is having I hope that he gets help soon. I.m praying that everything is ok with Kevin. Kevin will find another job soon.
@I hate Channel 7–those are some pretty strong words. I get the sense your ire and contempt for Channel 7 run deeper than Kevin Roy’s firing. Or perhaps you are feeling all this a little too personally?
It’s news, folks. We can get it from many different sources now. While it’s true that we form personal relationships with the people who give us information (even if it’s a distant one), broadcast news is always changing. Perhaps we need to check ourselves for our own responses to these changes. Mourn…and move on.
I do feel for Kevin Roy, let go at the absolute worst time to be jobless. But if he was as good a reporter as I am reading, he will find employment very soon, if he isn’t close to a deal already.
Whatever is going on with him, I hope he finds his way soon.
Kevin Roy was the reason I get up early Saturday morning before I go to work and Sunday morning before I go to church. I miss him now and I hope he gets the help he needs for his issues. Right now the weekend morning newscast is Stacy Baca overload.