Official WKNR personality profile card for news director Philip Nye (Courtesy keener13.com)
A WKNR CONTACT NEWS PRESENTATION: DETROIT 1966
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A WKNR CONTACT NEWS PRESENTATION: DETROIT 1968
Official WKNR personality profile card for news director Philip Nye (Courtesy keener13.com)
WKNR CONTACT NEWS: ‘AN ELECTRONIC DIARY OF ONE YEAR’
“… And so it went in ’68. An incredible year in an incredible age. There were many things we would change but we can’t. Those who lived through this time will remember. For WKNR News this is Philip Nye.”
WKNR NEWSMAN PHILIP NYE R.I.P. 1927 - 2014
F A M E D R A D I O A N D T V N E W S M A N G O N E A T 8 7
From Mike Austerman’s Michiguide.com; March 21, 2014
Philip Nye was the news director at the legendary WKNR AM 1310 Contact News in Dearborn/Detroit in the mid-1960′s working with names like Bill Bonds and Eric Smith. Phil made it to several of the Detroit Radio Reunions.
Nye passed away peacefully on March 20, 2014 at the age of 87. Born in Newark, Ohio on March 1, 1927, he was a proud graduate of Ohio State University where he studied theater and journalism. He had a long and distinguished career that included both radio and television. Mr. Nye worked actively as a broadcast journalist until the age of 86.
Along with his role as News Director of Keener 13 during it’s 1960′s heyday, other hightlights of Nye’s career include work as an investigative reporter and anchor for KTLA-TV in Los Angeles and most notably as News Director for WXYZ-TV where he built what was recognized as one of the best news teams in the country. He went on to head news departments at WABC in New York and KGO in San Francisco before joining ABC as Vice President of their owned and operated news division. He later became a partner in Burnham Broadcasting, managing television stations in Green Bay, WI, Bakersfield, CA and New Orleans, LA.
He was an avid reader and loved old movies, enjoyed cooking, playing golf and watching his beloved OSU Buckeyes play football. He is survived by his daughters Jo-Allison (Jeffry) Floyd, Kimberly McMahon, Tracey Millard and Cindy (Mark) Malin; eleven grandchildren Megan, Matthew, Tyler, Ryan, Colin, Christopher, Scott, Kelsey, Meredith, Allie and McKenna. And one great grandchild, Jayden. He was predeceased by his wife Joanne Phillips and daughter Pamela (Michael) McGillivary.
Most recently Phil lived in West Bloomfield and Shelby Township, Michigan and worked on local cable productions for Comcast.
Memorial visitation will take place at McCabe Funeral Home, 31950 West Twelve Mile, Farmington Hills, on Monday March 24 from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm with a memorial service at 1:00 pm. Memorial donations may be made to Special Olympics in Philip’s name.
There is a phenomenal amount of news, photos and airchecks covering Philip’s career on the Motor City Radio Flashbacks web site.
Information courtesy Michiguide.com: http://www.michiguide.com/archives2014/nye-obit.html
Addendum: For more on Philip Nye and everything WKNR see Scott Westerman’s and Steve Schram’s premiere Keener 13 website @ Keener13.com
For more on Philip Nye and WKNR Contact News on Motor City Radio Flashbacks go here. For more WKNR Contact News see our website menu archived here.
A WKNR CONTACT NEWS PRESENTATION: DETROIT 1967
WKNR Keener Contact News
WKNR: DETROIT. 45 Years Ago.
“My Fellow Americans, we have endured a week, such as no nation should live through. A time of violence and tragedy.” — Lyndon Johnson, President of the United States
“I think the President of the United States, uh, played politics uh, in a period of tragedy and riot.” — George Romney, Governor of Michigan
“We made it very clear — we do not want more than our share and we are determined to settle for nothing less than our share.” — Walter Reuther, UAW President
“I deplore the actions of the UAW in forcing Ford into this situation. I am sorry that we do not have laws, that effectively prevent the use of this kind of bludgeon, against the public interest.” — Henry Ford II, Ford Motor Company
DETROIT. 1967. The opening commentary and voice you will hear is WKNR News Director Philip Nye -
“These are the sounds and voices of a year. As WKNR News present an electronic diary in 1967. A year marked by rioting, by a continuing war and growing protest, by a rise in crime and cost, and by tragedy and triumph. As with all years, there was good and bad. We shall recall both.”
. . .WKNR microphones were there.
WKNR-AM Philip Nye WKNR KEENER CONTACT NEWS 1967 (Play 43:43 audio)
T h i s 1 9 6 7 W K N R n e w s n a r r a t i v e recalls many of the events which affected the city of Detroit. Of certain news events which impacted the lives of Detroiters, while marking the passing of another year 1967 moving forward into 1968. The stories, news, voices and sounds you will hear were electronically imprinted on recorded tape. They were then permanently preserved on vinyl record by the WKNR news department ending the year 1967. This news recording served as a marker of what took place in Detroit. Outside the boundaries of the city, WKNR microphones were there. Whether reporting the big news affecting the great state of Michigan. Keener was there. Whether covering the news of the nation, 1967 was an unforgettable year for news that year as well, “when it happened. As it happened.” This WKNR Contact News album will take you back to a time and place. Forty-five years ago. Detroit.
But the biggest story which broke out of the Motor City — the 1967 riot. The date set was July 23, 1967. And the WKNR news department microphones were there as Philip Nye and his six-man news staff picked up the story Monday morning, as more dramatic news began to intensify with every hour having passed while “the story” began to unfold. The civil disturbance sparked with a toss of a Molotov cocktail during the early morning hours on a hot Sunday morning, on 12th and Clairmount in the city’s near west side, during a police raid on a blind pig. By mid-afternoon, the rioting had spread rapidly out of control from block to city block. Looting, shootings and burnings became widespread. Detroit was up in flames.
Listen again to the biggest Detroit news story in 1967, when — Governor Romney requested the federal government deploy federal troops immediately into Detroit; when Presidential Assistant Cyrus Vance informed the city that troops were on the ground in Detroit; President Johnson addresses the nation deploring “law and order have broken down in Detroit, Michigan.”….
In Detroit, by Monday evening on July 24, the flames, looting, and shootings escalated. Rioting was widespread and was by then out of control (Click on image for larger view)
Philip Nye went on to record that, “At it’s peak, the riots spread over fourteen-square miles of the city. A curfew was in effect, a complete ban placed on liquor sales, gasoline can be purchased only during certain hours and never in a container, offices, banks, schools, businesses, industries were closed down; the heart of Detroit was deserted. Deliveries were curtailed. Food ran short. All normal activities in the nation’s fifth-largest city was at a standstill… they said it couldn’t happen here, but it did.”
The Detroit Free Press headlines below provided a more grim reality -
Detroit Free Press; Thursday, July 27, 1967
While the July ’67 civil disturbance overshadowed other local events and news for the year, Detroit had other issues the city found itself grappling with throughout 1967. WKNR Contact News covered these stories as well:
- A 61-day strike between the UAW and the Ford Motor Company….
- In July, the nation’s railroads were shut down by rail-machinists, affecting rail and transport commerce in Detroit….
- Teamster Steel-haulers went on strike; spanning 8 states, including Michigan, lasting 9 weeks while inciting violence….
- Detroit Federation of Teachers went on strike; teachers reached an agreement with the city two weeks into the new school year….
- Contract discussions with the Detroit Officers Association and the city reach a stalled impasse, DPOA stop issuing traffic tickets….
- The Teamsters Union strike both the Detroit newspapers over wages; The Detroit News and the Detroit Free Press were still shut down due to the strike as of December 31, 1967 . . . .
And those were just several of the important news stories WKNR reported for Detroit in 1967. Headed by Philip Nye and assistant news director Eric Smith, WKNR Contact News was awarded five prestigious first-place honors — five different categories — for “news presentation par excellence” in 1966 by the Michigan Associated Press.
The entire WKNR award-winning news team in ’67 were: Philip Nye, News Director; Eric Smith, Assistant News Director; Mike O’Neill, reporter; Dick Buller, reporter; John Maher; reporter; Pat Kelly, Doug Fernlock.
“…The hour’s catalog a year’s living; A year’s dying; a year’s luck. For WKNR News… this is Philip Nye, reporting.”
“A great tragedy has visited our city, and now our ability to face an awesome challenge is being tested. It is for us to meet the challenge with the same resolve and dedication for which we have been noted in the past. We must have a united determination torebuild our city into a kind of urban environment in which every citizen can say with dignity and self-respect that he is a Detroiter and proud of it. Like the legendary Phoenix, Detroit shall rise from its ashes.” - Jerome P. Cavanagh, Mayor of Detroit (1967)
Detroit, July 23, 1967 (AP press photo; click on image — then click on ‘Original Size’ 1000 x 808 left-top — 2x for largest detailed view).
The National Guard poised on Woodward Avenue, downtown Detroit. By July 26, 1967, Detroit was under imposed curfew and federal martial law.
U.S. Army tanks, armed with 50 cal. machine guns patrol the streets of Detroit, July 25, 1967.
For more on the Keener Contact News year-end albums, go to the left-sidebar column and click WKNR Contact News. For more on WKNR news, go to Scott Westerman’s WKNR tribute website at keener13.com.
Official WKNR personality profile card for news director Philip Nye (Courtesy Scott Westerman and keener13.com)
NOTE: The YouTube video titled “Detroit Riots 1968,” while seeming erroneous, it was titled as such the year it was released. The footage is silent.
ALSO: For a more comprehensive video of the riots, watch this vintage, 30 minute 1967 WXYZ-TV film segment on the Detroit civil disturbance here, on vimeo.com.
AND: The Detroit News Special Report: Interactive Timeline for Detroit’s 1967 Riots is a informative review of Detroit’s week of infamy, covering the week beginning Sunday, July 23, 1967. This special report includes many photographs of the ’67 civil unrest including audio as well. For more on this excellent Detroit News feature, go here.
Comments? Tell us… about your recollections, reflections on the 1967 Detroit Riot here.
A WKNR CONTACT NEWS PRESENTATION: DETROIT 1965
Once upon a time, there were authentic journalists who worked at rock radio stations.
They covered the cops, city hall and the community, asked tough questions and interpreted what they heard for the listener.
From the moment the WKNR brand launched in Dearborn, Contact News was an important part of the format. With the award winning Philip Nye at the helm, Keener Contact News was the career launching pad for some of Detroit’s greatest broadcast journalists. George Hunter, John Maher, Ed Mullen, Bob Neil, Erik Smith, Lou Morton, Jim Brooker and Bill Bonds all sharpened their chops on the Contact News team. Listening for what passes for radio news on most stations today, it’s hard to believe that such amazing journalism emanated from a “music station”.
At the height of WKNR’s popularity, the Contact News team produced a series of annual albums, highlighting the top news stories of the year. The project was done primarily for historical purposes and the LPs were distributed broadly to schools and libraries in the Detroit area. But many were also sold to Keenerfans. The production values stand the test of time and the content takes us back to the seismic events that were happening behind the music.
Here’s a 45 minute taste of WKNR’s own radio news coverage for the Motor City back in 1965.
WKNR-AM Philip Nye WKNR KEENER CONTACT NEWS 1965 (Play 49:37 audio)
