Chuck Goudie

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Chuck Goudie (born January 17, 1956 in Detroit, Michigan) is an American television journalist based in Chicago. Goudie is the chief investigative correspondent of ABC7 News, WLS-TV, in Chicago. He has been with ABC since April, 1980. He also writes a newspaper column for the Daily Herald. During his career, Goudie has reported major news stories from across the United States and from four continents. He has covered airliner crashes, terrorist attacks, hurricanes, earthquakes and tornadoes and was the first Chicago reporter on the air from New York's "Ground Zero" following the 9/11 attack. Goudie has been seen by television viewers reporting from war zones in the Middle East, the Arabian Sea and the Balkans; and on numerous occasions from behind the walls of the Vatican.

[edit] Major scoops

The "Licenses-for-Bribes" investigation revealed that Illinois commercial drivers' licenses were being sold to hundreds of unqualified truckers. It was broken by Goudie and his Chicago-based “I-Team” in 1998. That TV investigation motivated the FBI to send agents undercover in Illinois Secretary of State facilities and led to dozens of federal corruption indictments. The Justice Department’s “Operation: Safe Roads” led all the way to former Governor George Ryan. The “Changing of the Guard” investigation documented misconduct, accidents and negligence by top members of the Illinois State Police unit that guarded Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. The 2004 TV series resulted in the governor ordering a thorough state police overhaul. Goudie’s 1993 investigation of sexual abuse allegations against the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin resulted in the cardinal's accuser withdrawing charges.

[edit] Major awards

A National Emmy Award for Investigative Reporting. Goudie’s series “Worst Case Scenario” exposed how government agencies and chemical companies were unprotected against an attack. The reports found significant gaps in security at Illinois chemical plants; significant because there are more chemical facilities containing large amounts of hazardous chemicals in Illinois than any state in the USA.

The national "Edward R. Murrow Award" from the Radio-Television News Directors Association, for continuing coverage a nationwide murder spree.

Numerous Associated Press journalism awards including a national AP award for enterprise reporting.

[edit] Personal history

Goudie’s television career began at the age of 12, when he was a regular on two weekly children's shows on WXYZ-TV in Detroit, Mich. (1968-72). He was the news director at the Michigan State Network, the campus radio network serving Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan (1975-76.) He worked full-time as a radio newsman for both WILS-Radio and WVIC-Radio in Lansing and was a contributor to WXYZ-Radio in Detroit. Goudie also worked at WSOC-TV, the ABC affiliate in Charlotte, N.C., where he was a main sports anchor (1978-80) and general assignment reporter (1977-78). He is a member of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) and a regular speaker at their annual international conference. Goudie holds a degree from Michigan State. He is married to Teri Goudie, a former ABC producer who now leads a media consulting and corporate crisis training company. They have five children.