Kim Devore
The real deal
Hal Fishman: An appreciation
He was one of the true legends of Los Angeles television. In many ways, Hal Fishman was Los Angeles-as much a part of the city as the Walk of Fame, Disney Hall and Dodger dogs.
My mom and the storied anchorman were old friends. I was a recent high school grad with no idea what to do with my life until Hal persuaded me to take an internship at Channel 5.
Back then, in the late 1970s, 500 channels, CNN, E!, HBO and MSNBC did not exist. In fact, MS didn’t exist. There were just seven TV choices. KTLA was one of them-one of the smallest and, in my mind, always the best. The other guys may have had more manpower, more money, more machines, but we had Hal Fishman.
There were no fancy computers with bells-and-whistles like Spell Check. We had no Internet or flashy graphics, not even videotape-just a handful of old school journalists doing it all, picking up film at the lab, pulling bulletins off of rattling teletypes, frantically typing away on our clunky IBM typewriters, stringing the prompter together with sticky tape and putting on an hour of quality news.
But Hal didn’t really need a Teleprompter. He seemed to have a mind as big as a planet, a memory that was astoundingly photographic, commitment to excellence and a heart of gold. He could ad lib on just about any subject with a dazzling array of off-the-top-of-his-head facts, credibility and authority. When it came to his copy, he demanded three things-accuracy, accuracy and accuracy.
When I first moved up to news writer, putting together the station’s nightly international report, I made the mistake of referring to the Palestine Liberation Organization as the “Palestinian” Liberation Organization.
That oversight led to a meeting in Hal’s office where my mentor delivered some stern professional advice, although in a caring, father-like manner. He never let me forget it, would often joke about it and, needless to say, I never made that error again.
I went on to have a fairly impressive career. Thanks to Hal, I was good enough to become the youngest news writer hired by CBS. I followed in Hal’s footsteps as a reporter and anchor, covered stories in the Soviet Union and China, picking up an Emmy, a Golden Mike and several press club awards along the way.
None of this would have happened without my biggest role model and inspiration. I am so proud to say this icon of television integrity taught me everything I know about professionalism, trust and quality newscasting. Without Hal Fishman, my life would have been very different.
As television changed and we started to give more airtime to Paris Hilton’s dog than to politics or the war in Iraq, Hal refused to cave. Amid all the frivolous fluff regurgitated regularly by blow-dried talking heads, Hal endured. In the fickle world of TV news, that’s saying a lot.
His many friends and fans can take comfort in the fact that he had continued to do what he loved almost till the end. Hal’s final newscast was July 30.
Hal Fishman was an anchorman’s anchorman, one-of-a-kind, and we won’t see another like him. While many pretend, Hal was the real deal. He vowed to make a difference and he delivered on that promise night after night. He had a huge impact on many people, including a skinny, somewhat clueless teenager fresh from Beverly High. Thanks, Hal. You are the best and we will miss you in ways that a little, personally groomed news writer couldn’t possibly express.