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Rod Hansen
While I was was a reporter covering U.S. District Court for the Detroit News in the late 1980s and 1990s I watched Rod Hansen, the WJR reporter with the gravelly, deep golden voice, in action.
During recesses in court in high profile cases, Hansen would run to the pay phone and start reading his report to the station on West Grand Blvd. It was magical, smooth and precise. It was radio reporting at its best.
On Monday, on Independence Day, he died after a battle with cancer, the Detroit Free Press reports. He was 75.
Hansen, who was inducted into the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame, was a gentleman with a good sense of humor, a reporter with a deep respect for the craft. He spent 38 years at WJR covering everything from the Detroit riots to the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa to public corruption cases involving Detroit officials.
“To watch his patience and persistence in untangling the threads of complicated stories is to see first hand how a professional works at his craft,” the late WDIV reporter Jennifer Moore, who worked with Hansen in the late 1970s, once wrote in a profile posted on the Journalism Hall of Fame website.
According to WJR, the suburban Clevland native started his career at stations in Ohio before coming to WJR in 1967.
He worked as a street reporter and news director and received two Peabody Awards, which are given out for outstanding radio and television reporting. His work ultimately lead to the release of a man wrongfully convicted of murder, the station noted.
And he broke the news of Teamster boss Jimmy Hoffa disappearing in 1975, former Free Press reporter David Ashenfelter said, according to a report in the Detroit Free Press.
In more recent years, he left journalism to become the media liaison at U.S. District Court in Detroit where he was well regarded by the judges he served.
"He was first and foremost a family man. He was so proud of all his children and all their accomplishments. They’re all very accomplished. He was intelligent and witty," said his wife, Christine Hansen, according to the Freep.
Some posted words of admiration on Facebook.
Bill Curnow wrote:
"I worked with Rod from 1971-78 at WJR. He was a great investigative reporter and a pretty good poker player as well. He was not afraid of taking on anyone and he would spend hour after hour making sure the facts aligned before breaking the big story."
Kevin Collard, a former executive producer at WJR, wrote:
"Rod won two Peabody awards and it's a hard task to win just one, one of his reports freed an innocent man here in Macomb County, a humble man with a great voice, he was such a favorite of mine. straight shooter, awesome family guy. so long dear sir and a true example of how journalism on radio should be executed and rewarded. you leave quite a legacy on me and so many others."
