Remembering Trudy Haynes, Philly's first Black TV reporter

Trudy Haynes, Philadelphia's first Black TV reporter, passed away Tuesday morning. She was 95.

• "When they say you're the first, that puts a lot of responsibility on your shoulders automatically. I gotta be good. Unless you just don't give a damn," Haynes told CBS3 last year.

Catch up fast: Philly's CBS3 Eyewitness News (then KYW-TV) first hired Haynes back in 1965. She worked for the station for more than 30 years, retiring in 1999.

• Haynes was already accustomed to breaking barriers, having started her television career as the first Black weather reporter at a station in Detroit in 1963.
• During her tenure, she interviewed Martin Luther King Jr., President Lyndon Johnson, and Muhammad Ali.
• Haynes was inducted into the Philadelphia Broadcast Pioneers Hall in 1999.

Of note: CBS3 and The Philadelphia Association of Black Journalists award a scholarship, named after Haynes, to a college student pursuing a career in communications or journalism every year.

What they're saying: "At 95 years old, she continued to mentor, inspire, and produce context that brought life to the community. I won't mourn her passing, but celebrate her life and legacy," PABJ president Ernest Owens tweeted.

• "Trudy Haynes was a wonderful person, a trailblazer, and standard bearer for broadcasters everywhere," WHYY host Cherri Gregg wrote.
• "She will always be my hero," CBS3 anchor Ukee Washington said. "I, like so many, stood on the shoulders of greatness. A pioneer who was fearless, courageous, extraordinarily gifted and blessed."