Jim Kincaid, former anchorman for WVEC, the local ABC affiliate in Hampton Roads, has died from a heart attack. He was 76.
Kincaid had a long and distinguished career, including being shot down in a helicopter during the Vietnam War and suffering a broken back. He was anchorman for WVEC from 1978-97, during which he delivered the news with a rare objectivity, integrity, and intellectual honesty.
During the Gulf War, when I was a student at Old Dominion University, I recruited Kincaid to deliver a lecture on the rights and responsibilities of the news media in a time of war. At his request, I picked him up at his home in Norfolk in my beat up old Ford Escort and drove him to campus, where, in true college student fashion, we treated him to a cup of coffee in the cafeteria prior to his speech. I enjoyed talking with him and found him to be not only extremely knowledgeable but disarmingly candid. I asked him if he believed the news media had a liberal bias, and without hesitation, he replied, “God, yes.” At another point in the conversation, I asked him his opinion of Dan Rather, who was then the anchor of the CBS Evening News. Kincaid’s verbatim response, which I will never forget, was “Dan’s an ass.”
At the designated time, Kincaid got up, walked into the lecture hall, which was standing-room only, and gave a speech that captivated every person in attendance.
Jim Kincaid harkened back to a time when reporters focused on reporting the news as it is and not shaping the news to conform with the reporter’s personal agenda or worldview. He was a true professional in a field that became less professional overall during his tenure. Journalism needs more people like Jim Kincaid, and he will be missed.
