Jerry Taff
Born	September 9, 1940
Place of Birth	Lamesa, Texas Lamesa, Texas Lamesa is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,952 at the 2000 census. Located south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado, Lamesa was founded in 1903. Most of the economy is based on cattle ranching and cotton farming. The Preston E...
Profession	television anchor journalist Journalist A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
States Active In	Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is... , Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake".... , Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
Years Active	1957 – 2005
Residence	New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels, Texas New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...

Jerry Taff (born September 9, 1940) is a former television anchor for WISN-TV

WISN-TV

WISN-TV, virtual channel 12.1 , is a television station located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin serving as an affiliate of the ABC television network. Its signal covers most of southeastern Wisconsin and parts of northeastern Illinois, including Racine, Kenosha, Sheboygan and Waukesha...

 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Milwaukee is the largest city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, the 28th most populous city in the United States and 39th most populous region in the United States. It is the county seat of Milwaukee County and is located on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. According to 2010 census data, the...

.

Taff was raised in Lamesa, Texas

Lamesa, Texas

Lamesa is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,952 at the 2000 census. Located south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado, Lamesa was founded in 1903. Most of the economy is based on cattle ranching and cotton farming. The Preston E...

. He began working in the media at 17, when he worked at KPET-AM in Lamesa, Texas

Lamesa, Texas

Lamesa is a city in and the county seat of Dawson County, Texas, United States. The population was 9,952 at the 2000 census. Located south of Lubbock on the Llano Estacado, Lamesa was founded in 1903. Most of the economy is based on cattle ranching and cotton farming. The Preston E...

. He went on to work at stations in New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

 at WTNH-TV, Flint, Michigan

Flint, Michigan

Flint is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and is located along the Flint River, northwest of Detroit. The U.S. Census Bureau reports the 2010 population to be placed at 102,434, making Flint the seventh largest city in Michigan. It is the county seat of Genesee County which lies in the...

 at WJRT-TV

WJRT-TV

WJRT-TV, channel 12, is the ABC-affiliated station for the Flint/Tri-Cities television market, owned by SJL Broadcasting. Its studios are located in Flint, Michigan, with offices and a second newsroom for the Tri-Cities located in Saginaw...

 and Dallas at WFAA-TV

WFAA-TV

WFAA, channel 8, is an ABC-affiliated television station serving the Dallas–Fort Worth Metroplex, one of the top ten media markets in North America. The station is the flagship of Belo Corporation and the largest ABC affiliate not owned and operated by the network...

. While working in Flint, Taff covered the story of a local teenager named Michael Moore

Michael Moore

Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...

 who had been elected to the school board of Davison, Michigan

Davison, Michigan

Davison is a city in Genesee County in the U.S. state of Michigan and a suburb of Flint. The population was 5,536 at the 2000 census. Davison is located within Davison Township, but is administratively autonomous....

. Taff mentored Moore and his friends for a year and a half, showing him the news business. Moore later said of Taff "He was the one media person in a town dominated by General Motors to have the courage to report the truth."

Taff joined WISN-TV as anchor in September 1979. He interviewed Jimmy Carter

Jimmy Carter

James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...

 in October 1980. While working at WISN, Taff mentored reporters such as Shaun Robinson

Shaun Robinson

Shaun Robinson is weekend anchor and correspondent for the show Access Hollywood, the daily entertainment newsmagazine show...

, Ben Tracy

Ben Tracy

Benjamin Sampair Tracy is a rising star in the news broadcast industry and has been a CBS News national correspondent since January 2008...

, and Jason DeRusha

Jason DeRusha

Jason DeRusha is an American television journalist. He currently anchors the Sunday night 10p newscast as well as serving as the reporter / producer for the "Good Question" segment. -Career:...

. He also taught a course on journalism at Carroll University.

After serving as lead male anchor for WISN-TV for 25 years, Taff retired on May 25, 2005.
Taff was inducted into the Milwaukee Media Hall of Fame on Oct. 23, 2009. He lives in New Braunfels, Texas

New Braunfels, Texas

New Braunfels is a city in Comal and Guadalupe counties in the U.S. state of Texas that is a principal city of the metropolitan area. Braunfels means "brown rock" in German; the city is named for Braunfels, in Germany. The city's population was 57,740 as of the 2010 census, up 58% from the 2000...

.

Controversy

Taff's parents sued him in a Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Waukesha County, Wisconsin

Waukesha County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2008, the population was 380,629. Its county seat is Waukesha.-History:The part of Wisconsin that Waukesha County now occupies was a part of Michigan when Milwaukee County was organized in September 1834. On July 4, 1836, the...

court in 1985, claiming he owed them nearly $90,000 Though the lawsuit was dismissed, Taff was fired from WISN. The station later re-hired him in 1987.