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INDIANAPOLIS — Longtime WIBC news anchor and reporter Stan Lehr is retiring from the station after nearly three decades. The move comes a week after Emmis Communications, which owns WIBC, sold its Indianapolis stations to Urban One.
“You may believe, as many of our listeners do, that Stan Lehr has been anchoring news on WIBC for a lot longer than he actually has. (We once had a listener ask if he was around during the Kiritsis crisis),” Chris Davis, news director at WIBC/Network Indiana wrote in an e-mail to Emmis employees Wednesday.
“The reality is that Stan has been with WIBC for the past 28 years. At the end of the day on July 1, that long association will end with his retirement.”
Lehr’s retirement comes a week after Emmis, which owns WIBC, sold its Indianapolis stations to Urban One, one of the biggest local radio shakeups in recent history. The sale is pending approval from the Federal Communications Commission.
Maryland-based Urban One describes itself as “the largest diversified media company that primarily targets Black Americans and urban consumers in the United States.”
Emmis stations sold to the company included B105 (WYXB 105.7-FM), HANK FM (97.1-FM), The Fan (93.5-FM and 107.5-FM), WIBC (93.1-FM) and Network Indiana.
Emmis said Lehr’s retirement was planned “well before the sale was announced,” adding that he set the date in the spring.
More: In major radio shakeup, Emmis sells Indy stations: ‘For Indianapolis, it is earth-shattering’
Lehr began his career in his home state of Missouri, then moved to Dubuque, Iowa, Kansas City and in the early 1990s to Indianapolis to take a post with WIBC. Lehr was with the station before Emmis was its owner.
“This will bring to an end a long chapter in the station’s history,” Davis wrote in his e-mail. “His reputation as a stickler has been widely-known in the industry for decades.
“When I say the word stickler, here is what I mean: Though Stan is gifted with a voice that could have taken him far on its own, he has never wanted recognition for that gift,” Davis wrote. “Instead, he has made it clear to all who work or have worked with him that strong writing, accuracy and excellence in delivery are the best ways to serve the listeners.”
During his tenure as a radio voice in Indianapolis, Lehr covered 9/11, the war in the Middle East, the loss of the space shuttle Columbia, the stock market troubles of 2008-09 and the inaugurations of four presidents.
Lehr was a “calm and collected presence,” Davis wrote, a mentor he says he was thankful to have had.
“I will remain personally grateful for several lessons from Stan: the importance of being correct grammatically and factually, above all else; the importance of telling a story so that people listen and news is never background noise,” Davis wrote. “And sticking to your guns. Don’t give in when wavering in excellence is tempting because you are tired or it is the easy way out.”
Follow IndyStar sports reporter Dana Benbow on Twitter: @DanaBenbow. Reach her via email: dbenbow@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: WIBC’s Stan Lehr retires after Emmis sells station to Urban One
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