Editing Max Robinson (section)

==Biography==
===Early life and education===
Robinson was born the second of four children (a sister Jewell, who became a teacher; brother [[Randall Robinson|Randall]], a Harvard-educated lawyer; and sister Jean, a publicist),<ref>Jamison, Harold L., "Max Robinson, Pioneer Anchorman, Dies at 49", ''(New York) [[Amsterdam News]]'', December 24, 1988, p. 3.</ref> of Maxie, a teacher<ref name=NT/> and Doris Robinson in [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref name=Enyc/> The schools in Richmond were still segregated when he attended;<ref>"Pioneer News Anchor Dead." ''(Newport News VA) Daily Press'', December 21, 1988, p. 4.</ref> after graduating from Armstrong High School, Robinson attended [[Oberlin College]],<ref name=Enyc/> where he was freshman class president. However, he stayed there for only a year and a half and did not graduate.<ref>Ziegler, Dhyana, "Max Robinson, Jr.: Turbulent Life of a Media Prophet." ''[[Journal of Black Studies]]'', Vol. 20, No. 1 (September 1989), p. 98.</ref> Robinson briefly served in the [[United States Air Force]] and was assigned to the Russian Language School at [[Indiana University]] before receiving a medical discharge. He began working in radio early on, including a short time at WSSV-AM in [[Petersburg, Virginia]], where he called himself "Max the Player", and later at WANT-AM, Richmond.{{cn|date=October 2022}}

===Career===
Robinson began his television career in 1959, when he was hired for a news job at [[WGNT|WTOV-TV]] in [[Portsmouth, Virginia|Portsmouth]], [[Virginia]].<ref name=BLK/> Robinson had to read the news while hidden behind a slide of the station's logo. One night, Robinson had the slide removed; he was fired the next day.<ref>Matusow, Barbara, ''The Evening Stars / The Making of the Network News Anchor'', Houghton Mifflin Co., 1983, p. 242.</ref>
He later went to [[WRC-TV]] in Washington, DC, and stayed for three years, winning six journalism awards for coverage of civil-rights events such as the riots that followed the 1968 assassination of Dr. [[Martin Luther King Jr.]] It was during this time that Robinson won two regional [[Emmy Awards|Emmys]] for a documentary he made on black life in [[Anacostia]] entitled ''The Other Washington''. In 1969, Robinson joined the ''[[Eyewitness News]]'' team at WTOP-TV (now [[WUSA-TV]]) in [[Washington, D.C.]]<ref name=NT/> Robinson was teamed with anchor [[Gordon Peterson]], becoming the first African-American anchor on a local television news program, and the newscast succeeded. During that time, he was so well-liked by viewers that when [[Hanafi]] Muslims [[1977 Washington, D.C., attack and hostage taking|took hostages]] at the B'nai B'rith building in Washington they would speak only with Robinson.{{citation needed|date=June 2022}}

===ABC News and ''World News Tonight''===
In 1978, when [[Roone Arledge]] was looking to revamp ABC's nightly news broadcast into ''[[ABC World News|World News Tonight]]'', he remembered Robinson from a ''[[60 Minutes]]'' interview, and hired him to be a part of his new three-anchor format. Robinson would anchor national news from [[Chicago]], while [[Peter Jennings]] would anchor international news in [[London]] and [[Frank Reynolds]] would be the main anchor from Washington. Robinson thus became the first black man to anchor a nightly network news broadcast. The three-man co-anchor team was a ratings success, and launched spoofs regarding how the three would pitch stories to each other during the telecast by saying the other's name: "Frank"..."Max"...."Peter". 

Robinson's ABC tenure was marked by conflicts between himself and the management of [[ABC News (United States)|ABC News]] over viewpoints and the portrayal of Black America in the news. He was known by his co-workers to show up late for work or sometimes not show up at all; along with his moodiness, his use of alcohol escalated. In addition, Robinson was known to fight racism at any turn and often felt unworthy of the admiration he received and was not pleased with what he had accomplished. Together with [[Bob Strickland]], Robinson established a program for mentoring young black broadcast journalists.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/03/AR2008100303310.html | title=TV Reporter Bob Strickland; Covered Barry Arrest, Riots | first=Patricia | last=Sullivan | date=October 4, 2008 | page=B6 | access-date=October 6, 2008 | newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

During most of Robinson's tenure, ABC News used the [[Westar]] [[satellite]] to feed Robinson's segment of ''WNT'' from Chicago to New York. [[TVRO]] receiver earth stations were also coming into use at the time, and anyone who knew where to find the satellite feeds could view the feed. On the live feed, Robinson could be seen to have a drink or two, but never during the actual aired segment, which led some bars around the country to even have drink specials during the nearly 90 minutes, and invited patrons to come in and see the "Max 'R'" feed. ABC eventually caught on to what was happening, and even resorted to hide what was going on by supering a slide with the words "ABC News Chicago" on the screen during the live feed during times that Robinson was not live over the actual WNT broadcast. In addition, Robinson could often be seen being harsh towards people who worked around him during the live feed.<ref>{{cite book | last=Cooper | first=Robert B. Jr | title=Television's Pirates: Hiding Behind Your Picture Tube | location=Mangonui, Far North New Zealand | publisher=Far North Cablevision, Ltd | year=2006 | isbn=0-9777980-2-X}}</ref> Reynolds died in 1983, and shortly afterward Jennings was named sole anchor of ''World News Tonight''; Robinson was relegated to the weekend anchor post, as well as reading hourly news briefs. 

Robinson left ABC in 1983 and joined [[WMAQ-TV]] in Chicago in March 1984; he was the station's first black anchor. His tenure with the station was rocky, and he had conflicts with some of his colleagues. He was also frequently absent.<ref>Daley, Steve, "Max Robinson, 1st Black to Anchor Network News." ''Chicago Tribune'', December 21, 1988, p. 14.</ref> He was fired from the network after attending a work-related event and never returning to the office. He had entered a drug treatment program at [[Betty Ford Center|Hazelden]], though allegedly without informing his superiors.<ref name="Hall" />

Robinson retired in 1985.<ref name="NT" />