Bill Ritter, the veteran journalist who anchored WABC’s “Eyewitness News” 6 p.m. newscast since 2001, announced on Friday that it was his last broadcast after he was diagnosed with early stage Alzheimer’s disease.
In a statement to viewers, Mr. Ritter described how he had received the diagnosis “after a series of tests,” and that “unless someone finds an amazing cure, and really soon, tonight will be the last newscast I anchor.”
Although he is stepping away from anchoring, Mr. Ritter, 76, said he’s not going far.
“I will continue helping the younger journalists here at ‘Eyewitness News,’” he said. In a new role, he added, he will cover “the rising tide of Alzheimer’s, and other similar diseases, how it’s affecting patients and their families, how the price of treatment and the price of caring for patients is simply unaffordable and how this country might begin to change all that.”
Mr. Ritter is intimately familiar with the disease he now faces.
In his statement, he shared that he lost his father to Alzheimer’s in 1998 and that since then he has been active in the fight to stop it.
Alzheimer’s disease is the most commonly diagnosed form of dementia, accounting for 60 to 80 percent of cases, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
There is no cure for the disease, which is the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States, according to the National Institute on Aging.
Speaking of his decades-long career, Mr. Ritter said it was “not easy” to share the news with “our viewers, and the people I work with, like the man I’ve worked with for 25 and a half years, our producer, and my friend, Zahir Sachedina.”
“I believe we are the longest-running, behind-the-scenes newscast team ever, here, or maybe anywhere — a Muslim producer, and a Jewish anchor,” he said, adding that it is “what the melting pot of New York and the tristate — and I would hope the country — is all about.”
Mr. Ritter also paid tribute to his fellow journalists at WABC, including Liz Cho, Ryan Field, Sade Baderinwa, and the meteorologist Lee Goldberg.
In a social media post, Ms. Cho, who was an anchor alongside Mr. Ritter for 23 years, praised his long and storied career, noting that he has led “our show and our newsroom every step of the way.”
“Every single person in our newsroom has something they love about Bill,” she said, adding that she is “the journalist and anchor I am today because of you.”
Mr. Ritter ended his statement with a moment directed at viewers, telling them that he will miss reporting the news to them “with the truth, and the facts, no matter where they fall.”
“It has been my honor to do just that,” Mr. Ritter added. “But for now, I wish you health and peace, and let’s take care of each other.”
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