TV Journalists You May Have Not Realized Passed Away

Many TV journalists are celebrities in their own right. Viewers have watched these professionals on their small screens daily, and this makes their deaths all the more heartbreaking. We've lost a shockingly large number of beloved reporters over the years. Soccer journalist Grant Wahl's passing was among the most widely covered in the media due to conspiracy theories surrounding what could have caused his sudden death at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. We'll dive more into this false hearsay and, more importantly, Wahl's legacy below — though he isn't the only reporter whose health issues made headlines that same year.

Al Roker of the "Today" show was hospitalized in November 2022 due to blood clots in his leg that traveled to his lungs. He returned to the hospital just days after his release due to complications, but the fan-favorite weatherman has thankfully since been on the road to recovery. "Listen, it's been a tough slog. I'm not going to deny this," he admitted on "Today" the following month. "It's been the hardest one yet, and you know I've had my share of surgeries. It gives you a profound sense of gratitude for this outpouring of prayers and thanks. I'm a very fortunate person."

As you can see, life-threatening health issues unfortunately aren't unheard of among these news anchors, though some of these professionals have died due to other tragedies. Here are a few TV journalists you may not have realized passed away.

Sports journalist Grant Wahl died of a ruptured aortic aneurysm while covering the World Cup in Qatar in December 2022. He was 49. CNN reported that Wahl collapsed while working and was later transported to a hospital, where he sadly did not survive. World Soccer Magazine columnist Keir Radnedge spoke to the news network about watching the tragedy unfold. "This was towards the end of extra time in the match," he said. "Suddenly, colleagues up to my left started shouting for medical assistance. Obviously, someone had collapsed. Because the chairs are freestanding, people were able to move the chairs, so it's possible to create a little bit of space around him."

Wahl's wife, Dr. Céline Gounder, spoke to "CBS Mornings" about her husband's cause of death. She revealed that his aortic aneurysm had likely been worsening for years up until his passing. In a letter shared to Wahl's website, Gounder addressed the previously mentioned conspiracy theories that had surfaced surrounding the tragedy — with rumors previously spreading about unconfirmed causes of Wahl's death on social media, some users even made unsubstantiated allegations that the COVID-19 vaccine had led to the journalist's passing. "His death was unrelated to COVID," Gounder penned in part. "His death was unrelated to vaccination status. There was nothing nefarious about his death."

Gounder also wrote about her late husband's character in her letter. "Grant was an incredibly empathetic, dedicated, and loving husband, brother, uncle, and son who was our greatest teammate and fan," she shared.

CBS News' White House correspondent Bill Plante died in September 2022 at age 84. Some might say that the journalist was an expert in his field, because he worked for 52 years, according to The New York Times. Former President Barack Obama's first press secretary, Robert Gibbs, shared insight into why Plante was widely admired in his industry. "I remember Bill as fearless in how he asked questions, unflinching and unafraid to ask the president or his staff to defend their decisions, and never in the least bit worried about offending those in power in pursuit of those answers," Gibbs wrote in an email (via The New York Times).

Plante's fearlessness was apparent when he spoke about his approach to journalism and the importance of uncovering the truth. "I have no wasted sympathy on any occupant of the White House," the late political correspondent said in an interview for Minneapolis Star Tribune in the mid-'90s (via The Washington Post). "They are out to present themselves in the best possible light, and it's our job to find out, if we can, what's actually going on." 

Throughout his decades-long career, Plante covered a number of historical events — with the journalist shedding light on the civil rights movement, the Vietnam War, countless elections, and four presidential administrations.

ABC News anchor Peter Jennings died of lung cancer at age 67 in August 2005. Months prior to Jennings' death, he announced his diagnosis on air. "As some of you now know, I have learned in the last couple of days that I have lung cancer," he said while seemingly becoming emotional. "Yes, I was a smoker until about 20 years ago, and I was weak, and I smoked over 9/11 ... but whatever the reason, the news does slow you down a bit." Jennings added, "I've been reminding my colleagues today, who have all been incredibly supportive, that almost 10 million Americans are already living with cancer, and I have a lot to learn from them. And living is the keyword. The National Cancer Institute says that we are survivors from the moment of diagnosis."

According to ABC News, Jennings covered many historical moments all over the world during his time as a journalist. In addition to reporting on the Berlin Wall and the civil rights movement, he was among the first journalists to document the Vietnam War when he traveled to the country in the '60s. Former President George W. Bush spoke about Jennings' many accomplishments following his death. 

"A lot of Americans relied upon Peter Jennings for their news," Bush shared in part (via ABC News). "He became a part of the lives of a lot of our fellow citizens, and he will be missed. May God bless his soul."

Hugh Downs became a household name through his work on NBC's "Today" show and "20/20" on ABC. He accomplished a lot throughout his long life until he passed away at the age of 99 in July 2020. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Downs actually spent the early days of his career as a children's entertainer on the kids show "Kukla, Fran and Ollie." He also worked at radio stations before snagging a spot on NBC's "Caesar's Hour." He landed these gigs after moving on from working as a network announcer in his home state of Ohio. 

"There was a tendency to think that an announcer was a rich guy who threw his golf clubs in a high-powered car and motored out to the links, but it wasn't like that at all," Downs once said of the job, per The Hollywood Reporter. "There was no glamour, it was hard work." He went on to share that he questioned why he took the job in the first place, because his nerves often got the best of him. 

Luckily, it seems that Downs was able to find a gig he loved with the "Today" show, because he stayed there from 1962 to 1971. The journalist retired from TV in 1999 after impressively breaking the record for the most hours on air.

Longtime NPR and ABC News journalist Cokie Roberts died of breast cancer complications in September 2019 at age 75. Roberts worked with NPR since the beginning and was even considered a trailblazer for women in journalism after joining the radio station back in 1978, per NPR, an impact she shared with only a few other female colleagues during this time. "We called them the Founding Mothers of NPR," the station's national political correspondent Mara Liasson once noted to The Daily Princetonian, "or sometimes we called them the Fallopian Club."

Roberts' parents, Hale and Lindy Boggs, were prominent politicians who both served as U.S. representatives. The journalist dabbled in the world of politics herself as a congressional correspondent, but she decided not to follow in her mother and father's footsteps by becoming a politician herself. It seems that journalism better served Roberts, as she spoke to Kentucky Educational Television (via NPR) about participating in politics only indirectly through her work: "I do feel strongly that informing the voters about what's going on, trying to explain it in ways that people can understand, and putting the issues out there is a form of participation." 

As for Roberts' personal life, she was married to fellow journalist Steven V. Roberts, who worked for The New York Times and honored his late wife's legacy with the 2021 book "Cokie: A Life Well Lived." The couple had two children.