{{short description|American journalist and broadcaster}} {{for|the American basketball player|Al Sanders (basketball)}} {{Infobox person | image = | name = Al Sanders | birth_date = March 13, 1941 | birth_place = [[St. Louis, Missouri]], US | death_date = {{death date and age|1995|05|05|1941|03|13}} | death_place = [[Baltimore, Maryland]], US | occupation = [[Anchorman]] | alias = | status = | title = | family = | spouse = Ruth | children = 3 | relatives = | credits = Co-anchor of WJZ-TV, Eyewitness News }}
'''Al Sanders''' (March 13, 1941 - May 5, 1995) was an American television news [[anchorman]] at [[WJZ-TV]] in [[Baltimore, Maryland]]. He helped take a third place television newscast to first place, where it stayed throughout his career.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}}
==Background== In 1967 Sanders, as Al Gay, worked for radio station [[KSIV (AM)|KXLW]], in [[St. Louis, Missouri]]. In 1969, he left for competitor [[KXFN|KWK]], where he adopted the name Al Sanders, the on-air alias that would follow him through the rest of his career.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://440.com/namess.html#_asande|title=Radio Broadcasting History: Al 'Scoop' Sanders |publisher=440 International Inc.|access-date=2008-04-17|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130526165925/http://www.440.com/namess.html|archive-date=2013-05-26}}</ref> Sanders joined WJZ-TV in 1972. Five years later, he would replace [[Oprah Winfrey]] as [[Jerry Turner (anchorman)|Jerry Turner]]'s co-anchor.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/2011/5/1/when-oprah-was-ours|title=When Oprah Was Ours|date=May 2011 |publisher=Baltimore (magazine)|access-date=2019-03-06}}</ref> Turner and Sanders were Baltimore's top news team until 1987, when Turner succumbed to [[esophageal cancer]]. Denise Koch joined Sanders on the anchor desk as a fill-in, gaining the role permanently in 1988. Sanders won [[Emmy Award]]s in 1993 and 1994 for his regularly featured specialty report, "Picture This."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1995/05/07/obituaries/al-sanders-news-broadcaster-54.html|title= Al Sanders; News Broadcaster, 54|date=1995-05-07|work=New York Times|access-date=2008-04-17}}</ref> In March 1995, Sanders was diagnosed with [[lung cancer]]. Sanders died at the [[Johns Hopkins Hospital]] on May 5, 1995, and was replaced by Vic Carter, formerly of [[WSB-TV]] in Atlanta., who retired in July of 2024.
==Legacy== Each year, the Baltimore Community Foundation awards college scholarships in the name of Al Sanders for those students who are musically inclined.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://wjz.com/seenon/scholarship.jerry.turner.2.649554.html|title=Scholarships Turn College Dreams Into Realities|last=Lee|first=Peggy|date=2008-02-08|publisher=WJZ-TV|access-date=2008-04-17}}{{dead link |date=September 2012}}</ref> In Baltimore, the corner of [[Druid Park Drive]] and Malden Avenue, two blocks from WJZ-TV, was named Al Sanders Place. The adjoining block of Malden Avenue is named Jerry Turner Way, for his former broadcasting partner.<ref>{{cite news |title=Take Jerry Turner to Al Sanders . . . |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/news/bs-xpm-1995-09-01-1995244047-story.html |access-date=1 October 2022 |work=Baltimore Sun}}</ref> {{S-start}} {{succession box | before=[[Jerry Turner (anchorman)|Jerry Turner]] | after=[[Vic Carter]] | title=WJZ-TV Lead Anchors | years=1987/1988 – 1995 }} {{s-end}}
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * [http://video.aol.com/video-detail/wjz-tv-baltimore-remembering-al-sanders-part-5/1539874121 Remembering Al Sanders] * {{YouTube|Yr7L6UVp8Zc|Remembering Al Sanders pt2}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Al}} [[Category:1941 births]] [[Category:1995 deaths]] [[Category:Television news anchors from Baltimore]] [[Category:American television reporters and correspondents]] [[Category:Deaths from lung cancer in Maryland]] [[Category:African-American journalists]] [[Category:African-American television personalities]] [[Category:20th-century African-American people]] [[Category:20th-century American male journalists]]