'Chicago In Transition:' A CBS 2 year-end special from 1972
CHICAGO (CBS) -- At the end of 1972 – 50 years ago – Chicago was in a state of transition.
Issues such as racism, crime, and the economy were front and center much as they are today. And back then, CBS 2's news team examined the trends and what the city needed to do to change.
In this year-end special, "Chicago in Transition: The Legacy '72, The Challenge '73," you will not see Bill Kurtis or Walter Jacobson – their run as CBS 2's principal anchors hadn't started yet. But you will see some people who grew to be among CBS 2's best-known faces for decades.
They include Bob Wallace, back before he grew his signature mustache and began taking viewers on wild adventures; Susan Anderson, who went on to cover the consumer, health, and family issues beats for CBS 2 and co-anchor our weekend news for many years; Harry Porterfield, who reported and anchored the news on CBS 2 for nearly 30 years altogether and is renowned for his "Someone You Should Know" series; beloved weatherman John Coughlin; and John "Bulldog" Drummond, who isn't talking about colorful crooks and capers here, but does have a sobering report on crime.
Anchorman Bob McBride takes us to the newsroom for a talk about the serious issues Chicago was facing as 1972 came to a close, and the efforts being made to fix them and make Chicago a better place for all.
- Bob Wallace reports on the local economy – and how white flight, and the growth of suburbia at the city's expense, were having an adverse effect.
- Harry Porterfield reports on the plague of racism in Chicago that led to violent confrontations – including an especially infamous one at Gage Park High School.
- Susan Anderson reports on the crises in the Chicago Public Schools and the education system as a whole. At the time, CPS and every other urban school district was going broke.
- John Drummond reports on a crisis of too much violent crime and not enough police manpower to deal with it. Among the solutions suggested at the time were letting police forget about "victimless" crime such as gambling and prostitution, as well as finding other ways to deal with drug addiction.
- Robert Osborne reports on efforts to protect the environment. While laws had been passed to ensure clean air and water, there had been little progress for many major problems at the time – including protecting Lake Michigan.
- Sports Director Brent Musburger – later, of course, of CBS Sports' "The NFL Today" – has a breakdown of Chicago's sports scene, which was fairly bleak at the time.
- Bob Faw reports on politics, and the outlook for Mayor Richard J. Daley and the candidates he supported.
- John Coughlin has a review of the weather in 1972, which was colder and wetter than usual.
- Jon Esther has a consumer report, including changes in pricing at the supermarket, and a "Get Tough" Toy Safety Bill that was a victory for Consumer Commissioner – and future Chicago Mayor – Jane Byrne.
- Edwina Moore, a CBS 2 anchor and reporter who had recently moved to Chicago at the time, talks about her experiences both positive and negative.
- Beloved CBS 2 talk show host Lee Phillip talks about all the efforts being made to solve problems at the community level in Chicago.
