Roger Mudd, Longtime CBS News Journalist, Dead at 93

Roger Mudd, a longtime journalist and a former CBS newsman, has reportedly died at the age of 93. [...]

Roger Mudd, a longtime journalist and a former CBS newsman, has reportedly died at the age of 93. According to CBS News, Mudd died on Tuesday following complications from kidney failure. He passed away at his home in McLean, Virginia. In light of his passing, many of those within the media industry have spoken out in order to pay tribute to the late journalist, who gained nationwide acclaim for his reporting and substitute anchoring on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite in the 1960s and 1970s.

Susan Zirinsky, the president and senior executive producer of CBS News, also released a statement regarding Mudd's death. In her statement, she noted the lasting legacy that the former anchor will be leaving behind. "Roger was a hero in the CBS News Washington bureau," Zirinsky said. "He was a journalist of enormous integrity and character. He would not budge if he believed he was right and would not compromise his ethical standards. He was an inspiration to all of us in the bureau. On a personal note — I sat directly across from him in the D.C. newsroom — Roger was big, not just in his physical presence but he was larger than life." CBS News reported that Mudd joined the team as a congressional correspondent in 1961 and that he was later named as the national affairs correspondent in 1979.

The publication reported that one of Mudd's most famous political interviews took place on Nov. 4, 1979. At the time, he anchored and reported "CBS REPORTS: Teddy," which featured a look at then-candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency, Sen. Edward Kennedy. Notably, during the interview, Mudd asked Kennedy directly why he wanted to be president, to which the senator could not give him a clear answer. The interview ended up stopping the momentum of Kennedy's campaign. Jimmy Carter would go on to win the Democratic nomination and, subsequently, the presidency.

A&E Networks also responded to his passing, sharing a statement with PopCulture.com. "All of us at A+E Networks mourn the loss of Roger Mudd. Roger was our first on-air anchor in the early days of The HISTORY Channel," Paul Buccieri, the president of A+E Networks, said. "We will be forever grateful for his leadership and enormous contributions which helped build The HISTORY Channel brand. He had a remarkable, award-winning career in television and we are very proud to be a part of his legacy. Our deepest sympathies are with his family."

Disclosure: PopCulture is owned by CBS Interactive, a division of ViacomCBS.

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