Groundbreaking black New York journalist Gil Noble dies

The longtime host of WABC-TV's groundbreaking public affairs program "Like It Is" has died. Gil Noble was 80.

The longtime host of WABC-TV's groundbreaking public affairs program "Like It Is" has died. Gil Noble was 80.

The New York television station announced the death of the Emmy Award-winning black journalist on its website Thursday. Noble had a debilitating stroke last summer.

WABC-TV President and General Manager Dave Davis says Noble's contributions "are a part of history."

Noble's career spanned more than five decades. He started as a reporter at the station in 1967. The following year, he became host of "Like It Is," a public affairs program that focused on issues concerning African-Americans.

In his career, Noble's interviews included Nelson Mandela, Muhammad Ali, Jesse Jackson and Arthur Ashe.

He also created documentaries on such luminaries as W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr. and Charlie Parker.

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