Award-winning Chicago television investigative reporter Chuck Goudie, who left WLS-Channel 7 in December after a distinguished, more than 44-year career at ABC 7, has a new broadcast home, just a short distance away on the dial.
Officials from WMAQ-Channel 5 announced on Monday that Goudie, 69, is joining the NBC affiliate’s “NBC 5 Investigates” team, effective Monday, Feb. 10. Goudie will join investigative reporter Bennett Haeberle and producers Katy Smyser and Lisa Capitanini.
Goudie joined ABC 7 in 1980 and became its lead investigative reporter in 1990. Known for his many scoops involving the Chicago Outfit and other reporting coups like securing a seat next to former Gov. Rod Blagojevich on the former governor’s plane ride home from Colorado after his prison term, Goudie couldn’t resist a “Godfather”-related quip in describing his new job.
“To draw from the noted Mafia philosopher Vito Corleone, NBC Chicago made me an offer I couldn’t refuse,” Goudie told the Tribune. “They have a great team in place and inviting me to join such an experienced news staff shows a continuing commitment to reporting important stories and search(ing) for solutions to new and ongoing problems. And Chicago stories resonate from coast to coast. With NBC’s substantial platforms, I am excited about the prospect of seeing great investigative reporting done in Chicago reach audiences everywhere.”
Goudie also told the Tribune that in leaving ABC 7, he and that station “simply decided to go different directions.” Clearly uninterested in retiring, Goudie said that news consumers need his brand of reporting.
“It’s simple. When the winds blow hard and it’s raining like mad, you don’t want to pack away your strongest storm clothes and be caught unprepared,” he said. “Chicago, the state and the world in 2025 and beyond obviously need more investigative eyes, journalists who can satisfy the hunger for substance, context and perspective — not just box scores.”
Goudie has won a shelf full of awards for his work, including a national Emmy Award, a national Edward R. Murrow Award for Continuous Television News Reporting and numerous local Emmy and Peter Lisagor Awards.
“Investigative reporting is more important than ever, NBC 5’s senior vice president of news, Sally Ramirez, said in a statement. “Adding Chuck, one of the best journalists in the nation, to our award winning ‘NBC 5 Investigates’ team ensures an even greater commitment to our Chicagoland viewing audience.”
Goldsborough is a freelance reporter.
