'Columbus TV legend Angela Pace out at WBNS after decades with the

(This story was updated to add new information.)

Angela Pace, WBNS-10TV’s longtime director of community affairs, said in an interview Friday that she is leaving the station in January as her station’s parent company is eliminating her department.

Tegna Inc., owner of 10TV, a CBS affiliate, is eliminating marketing and community affairs departments across its entire network of some 60 stations, Pace said. Her last day at 10TV will be Jan. 17.

“I’ve been here 34 years. I think, and I love this place. I love the people I work with,” Pace said in an interview Friday with The Dispatch. “But more importantly, I love all the community organizations that I get a chance to work with to help them, to promote their programs, their events, to give them a voice any chance that I got, and making sure that they are able to continue to serve the people of central Ohio. I’m really going to miss that..”

A Tegna spokesperson has not responded to a request from The Dispatch for comment.

Pace, 73, started at WBNS in Columbus in 1992 as a community relations specialist before becoming an anchor in 1993. She anchored the 6 p.m. and 11 p.m. newscasts until 2006, when she took on her current role as director of community affairs, The Dispatch previously reported.

Before her time at 10TV, Pace worked at WCMH-TV (NBC4) starting in 1977.

In her interview with The Dispatch, Pace thanked the community, her community partners, her corporate partners and everybody she’s ever worked with “in this crazy business.”

“Thank you for letting me be a part of your lives,” she said.

While her departure hurts, Pace said she does not plan on leaving Columbus, the city she grew up in. She has not yet figured out what her next step is, though.

“I don’t have any cats or plants or grandchildren, so I don’t have that to take up my time,” she said. “I’ve got to do something, though, that will not only keep myself active and out of trouble but also continue to feel like I’m making a difference.”

Former Columbus mayor, NBC4 anchor reacts to Pace’s departure

Former Columbus Mayor Michael Coleman simultaneously commended Pace on her career as a journalist and took a swipe at those in charge of eliminating her position, saying that 10TV will be “worse off” without her.

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“Angela is one of the very best anchors and journalists that Ohio has ever had, and on top of that she’s one of the best people I know,” said Coleman. “The elimination of (her) position is, to me, a message to the community that they don’t count anymore.”

Kerry Charles, left, president of the recently restarted National Association of Black Journalists Columbus Chapter and an anchor at WCMH-TV (NBC-4) poses with Angela Pace. Pace announced on Friday that she would be leaving WBNS-10TV following the elimination of her position as a community affairs specialist. Her last day is Jan. 17.

Kerry Charles, the weeknight anchor for NBC4 and president of the Columbus Association of Black Journalists, recalled watching Pace when she worked at NBC4 and admired her work.

“I always remembered looking up to Angela from a distance,” said Charles.

Dispatch reporter Amani Bayo contributed to this report.

NHart@dispatch.com

@NathanRHart

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus TV icon Angela Pace leaving station in January after 34 years

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