Jim Snyder, considered one of the giants in broadcast news, died Thursday at a retirement community in Adamstown, Md. He was 76.
Probably best known for his long affiliations with CBS and with Post-Newsweek Stations, Snyder was an influential news leader in Washington, Detroit and Pittsburgh and nationally.
Before joining Post-Newsweek in 1968 as vice president for news, Snyder had been the Washington producer for CBS's morning and evening news. Earlier, he had covered the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations as a reporter and Washington bureau chief for Westinghouse Broadcasting.
In 1992, Snyder was the Radio-Television News Directors Foundation's first recipient of the Leonard H. Zeidenberg First Amendment Award, named for the Broadcasting & Cable Washington reporter.
Snyder was among the first news directors to put a black anchor on the air, teaming Max Robinson with Gordon Peterson in the early 1970s at what was then WTOP-TV, now WUSA.
Snyder is survived by his wife of 50 years, Anne Marie, and five children, Mary Martin-a CBS news producer, John P. Snyder, James W. Snyder, Catherine Snyder Charlip, and Owen B. Snyder, and eight grandchildren. - Dan Trigoboff
