Dick Oliver
{{Short description|American television reporter (1939–2016)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dick Oliver
| image =
| caption =
| birthname = Richard Vincent Oliver Jr.
| birth_date = {{birth date|1939|4|11}}
| birth_place = New York, New York, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|2016|11|11|1939|4|15}}
| death_place = New York, New York, U.S.
| education = Columbia University (BA, MS)
| occupation = Journalist and reporter
| years_active = 1961–2002
| family =
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- Marilyn Blendowski
- {{marriage|Kathryn McGrath|1993|2016}}
}}
| children = 2
| credits = Reporter for Good Day New York (TV program) (1988-2002)
}}
Richard Vincent Oliver Jr. (April 11, 1939 – November 11, 2016){{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/21/nyregion/dick-oliver-died-good-day-new-york.html|title=Dick Oliver, Reporter for 'Good Day New York,' Dies at 77|first=Daniel E.|last=Slotnik|newspaper=The New York Times|date=15 November 2016|issn=0362-4331}} was an American print journalist, radio host and television reporter, best known for his tenure as a correspondent for Good Day New York from 1988 until 2001, broadcast on television station WNYW Fox 5.
Oliver was the first journalist to report on the 9/11 attacks on live television.{{Citation |title=Realtime TV multiviewer of the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center | date=10 May 2019 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EPQ45K4kheU |access-date=2024-09-21 |language=en}}
Career
Oliver was born in Astoria, Queens. He graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School, and received his bachelor's degree from Columbia University and master's degree from Columbia School of Journalism.
He started his career as a reporter and editor with the New York Daily News, in 1961, before becoming a reporter for United Press International
Oliver was a radio host, as presenter of a program called The Daily News Bulldog Edition in 1978, and becoming assistant managing editor in 1980, he remained with the program that was broadcast on several New York station's until 1995.
In 1988 he became a reporter on the television breakfast show Good Day New York until 2001. On July 19, 2001, while field reporting on a landlord-tenant dispute, he was involved in a heated exchange live on air with Good Day New York anchor Jim Ryan.Archived at [https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211210/AtzG3wdF_IU Ghostarchive]{{cbignore}} and the [https://web.archive.org/web/20150207024735/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtzG3wdF_IU&gl=US&hl=en Wayback Machine]{{cbignore}}: {{cite AV media| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtzG3wdF_IU| title = Anchor vs. Reporter on-air fight | website=YouTube}}{{cbignore}}{{Cite web|last=Starr|first=Michael|date=2001-07-20|title=JIM & DICK ALL THE RAGE ON 'GOOD DAY'; AM HOST AND REPORTER SWAP ANGRY INSULTS ON LIVE TV|url=https://nypost.com/2001/07/20/jim-am-host-and-reporter-swap-angry-insults-on-live-tv/|access-date=2020-06-24|website=New York Post|language=en-US}}
On the morning of September 11, Oliver had been on assignment in Lower Manhattan when the attack on the World Trade Center occurred. With the production truck still running, the station quickly interrupted a commercial break to switch to Oliver. After 8 minutes, the uplink signal from the van was interrupted due to a failure at the receiver on the roof of one of the two towers. Reporting from Oliver continued over a phone line.
His live report was among the earliest news coverage of the event.{{Cite web|date=2016-11-17|title=R.I.P.: NYC Radio Host, Reporter Dick Oliver Dead at 77|url=http://mediaconfidential.blogspot.com/2016/11/rip-nyc-radio-host-reporter-dick-oliver.html|access-date=2021-07-15|website=Media Confidential|language=en-US}}{{Citation |title=The first minutes of the reporting of the 9/11 attacks from WNYW/Fox 5 | date=12 June 2014 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PElRJEDMuE |access-date=2023-09-13 |language=en}} Oliver would retire from Fox the following year and afterward taught journalism at Columbia University, Hunter College and New York University.
He died in a hospice care facility on November 11, 2016, aged 77, from complications of a stroke.
References
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Category:New York (state) television reporters
Category:Journalists from New York City
Category:Columbia University alumni
Category:Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni
Category:William Cullen Bryant High School alumni
Category:People from Astoria, Queens
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