Sadly, Forrest Carr passed away this week. Forrest was a former news director in Tampa, Fort Myers, Albuquerque and Tucson. Carr received or shared credit in more than 90 journalism awards, including an Emmy for investigative reporting and two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting. He co-authored a college journalism textbook, Broadcast News […]
Sadly, Forrest Carr passed away this week.
Forrest was a former news director in Tampa, Fort Myers, Albuquerque and Tucson.
Carr received or shared credit in more than 90 journalism awards, including an Emmy for investigative reporting and two regional Edward R. Murrow awards for investigative reporting.
He co-authored a college journalism textbook, Broadcast News Handbook and also wrote the novels The Dark, Messages and A Journal of the Crazy Year.
I did not know Forrest Carr but we were Facebook friends. And we would occasionally write each other about some happening in the local TV business.
But I learned quite a lot about how much Forrest Carr was admired, respected, loved, honored and revered by reading the long list of comments from his family, friends and co-workers on his Facebook page.
Most go like this:
There are people who come into your life and simply make you better than you were before. That is who Forrest Carr was to me. He passed away this morning, but his spirit remains forever boundless. I always felt lucky to have crossed paths with him, to have learned from him, to have been challenged by him. He made me proud to be a reporter at WFLA. We didn’t agree on everything — and we seemingly fought as much as we laughed together. That cackling laugh: who will ever forget Forrest’s echoing, raucous laugh?!
Forrest appreciated my passion, and nurtured it. I remember he once got down on his knees, in front of the whole newsroom, and kissed my hand because he was so moved by an unusual approach I used in a story! That rare expression and feedback from a news director came from his genuine joy of creating impactful stories.
Forrest embraced courage and honored creativity. He tirelessly drilled into all of us: HOLD THE POWERFUL ACCOUNTABLE. He not only taught us journalism ethics, he executed them daily; ushering our newsroom into the height of its glory.
This photo was taken at my birthday party in 2002. It reminds me how much I loved my bosses, Kathryn Bonfield and Forrest Carr, no matter how tough they were on me. They taught me how to be brave. I feel so grateful to have known Forrest at all – and to have been part of that magical family at WFLA-TV. We love you Forrest.
Samara Sodas
Comments (0)
Reader Interactions