Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Mike Buchanan, multifaceted local TV reporter and anchor, dies at 78
Hat tip, the DCRTV.com mailbag
Obituaries
Mike Buchanan, multifaceted local TV reporter and anchor, dies at 78
By Bart Barnes
April 17, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. EDT
Mike Buchanan, a Washington television and radio journalist for 45 years who was best known as a police and crime reporter and a morning and evening news broadcast anchor, died April 16 at a hospital in Lewes, Del. He was 78.
The cause was a heart attack, said a son, Douglas Buchanan.
For 33 years Mr. Buchanan was a reporter and anchor with WUSA (Channel 9) television, where he pulled stints as anchor of the weekday afternoon news and the early morning broadcasts, beginning at 5 o’clock.
But he thought of himself primarily as a news reporter. He covered the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, where he was among the first to report that would-be assassin John W. Hinckley Jr. was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster when he shot the president. He also was one of the first to report on the cocaine overdose death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias in 1986, two days after he was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second pick in the National Basketball Association draft.
During the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002 — a series of fatal random shootings in Maryland, Virginia and the Districct that terrorized the region — Mr. Buchanan was reportedly the first to broadcast the discovery of a tarot card with a message to police (“I am God”) left near one of killings in Maryland.
Michael Coe Buchanan was born in St. Louis on Aug. 15, 1941, and he grew up in Chicago near Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He “went off like a human sparkler,” his family said, when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, for the first time in more than 100 years.
{snip}
Read more Washington Post obituaries
Mike Buchanan, multifaceted local TV reporter and anchor, dies at 78
By Bart Barnes
April 17, 2020 at 11:30 a.m. EDT
Mike Buchanan, a Washington television and radio journalist for 45 years who was best known as a police and crime reporter and a morning and evening news broadcast anchor, died April 16 at a hospital in Lewes, Del. He was 78.
The cause was a heart attack, said a son, Douglas Buchanan.
For 33 years Mr. Buchanan was a reporter and anchor with WUSA (Channel 9) television, where he pulled stints as anchor of the weekday afternoon news and the early morning broadcasts, beginning at 5 o’clock.
But he thought of himself primarily as a news reporter. He covered the attempted assassination of President Ronald Reagan in 1981, where he was among the first to report that would-be assassin John W. Hinckley Jr. was trying to impress actress Jodie Foster when he shot the president. He also was one of the first to report on the cocaine overdose death of University of Maryland basketball star Len Bias in 1986, two days after he was selected by the Boston Celtics as the second pick in the National Basketball Association draft.
During the Beltway sniper attacks of 2002 — a series of fatal random shootings in Maryland, Virginia and the Districct that terrorized the region — Mr. Buchanan was reportedly the first to broadcast the discovery of a tarot card with a message to police (“I am God”) left near one of killings in Maryland.
Michael Coe Buchanan was born in St. Louis on Aug. 15, 1941, and he grew up in Chicago near Wrigley Field, the home of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. He “went off like a human sparkler,” his family said, when the Cubs won the World Series in 2016, for the first time in more than 100 years.
{snip}
Read more Washington Post obituaries
Home » Local News » Veteran reporter Mike Buchanan…
Veteran reporter Mike Buchanan dies at 78
Kate Ryan | @KateRyanWTOP
FILE – WUSA TV reporter Mike Buchanan shares a bath with live ducks at the Peabody Hotel, Washington, USA, February 24, 1988. The ducks are a tradition at the Peabody Hotel, swimming in the marble lobby fountain, walking on red carpets and sleeping in penthouse quarters at night.
Mike Buchanan, whose coverage of crime in the D.C. region included some of the biggest stories over three decades, has died. He was 78 years old.
Buchanan’s daughter said he had a heart attack at his home in Bethany Beach, Delaware, on Thursday.
Buchanan first worked as a print reporter. He then worked in television at WUSA9 and in radio at WTOP.
It was Buchanan who was the first to report that the motive behind John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was to impress actress Jodie Foster.
{snip}
Watch a video of Buchanan and [WRC's Pat Collins] talking about their craft.
Veteran reporter Mike Buchanan dies at 78
Kate Ryan | @KateRyanWTOP
FILE – WUSA TV reporter Mike Buchanan shares a bath with live ducks at the Peabody Hotel, Washington, USA, February 24, 1988. The ducks are a tradition at the Peabody Hotel, swimming in the marble lobby fountain, walking on red carpets and sleeping in penthouse quarters at night.
Mike Buchanan, whose coverage of crime in the D.C. region included some of the biggest stories over three decades, has died. He was 78 years old.
Buchanan’s daughter said he had a heart attack at his home in Bethany Beach, Delaware, on Thursday.
Buchanan first worked as a print reporter. He then worked in television at WUSA9 and in radio at WTOP.
It was Buchanan who was the first to report that the motive behind John Hinckley Jr.’s assassination attempt on then-President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was to impress actress Jodie Foster.
{snip}
Watch a video of Buchanan and [WRC's Pat Collins] talking about their craft.