Age: 43
Hometown: Pittsford
Current residence: Pittsford
Occupation: Evening anchor and managing editor at News 8 WROC
Adam Chodak is running out of time.
It’s just after 9 a.m., and if he doesn’t leave soon, he’ll be late for an interview. But before anchoring the evening news on local CBS affiliate News 8 WROC, he has to report his own story.
“It’s stressful,” he said. “But it’s better than being bored.”
Since joining News 8 in 2015, Chodak has anchored the 5 and 6 o’clock newscasts longer than anyone currently on air in Rochester.
Ten years may not seem like a long tenure in the city of Don Alhart, but the landscape has changed. The familiar, trusted newsman is mostly a relic. Still, Chodak appears in living rooms across the region every night, projecting thoughtful steadiness in a suit and tie.
Today, he’s training a new videographer: 27-year-old Kendra Simpson, fresh from a station in Missouri.
“It’s fun,” Simpson said of the job’s marathon editing and tight deadlines, “when you don’t have a migraine and want to die.”
Chodak grew up in Rochester. After working in Syracuse, Boston and Fort Collins, Colorado, he came home – first to 13WHAM, then News 8. On the road to his interview, he points out local landmarks and checks his watch.
“Everything throughout the day is like, how long is this going to take?” he said. “When will I be done?”
Broadcast news runs on time: a few hours to research, interview, script, edit. You’re on at 5 p.m.; you’ve got 90 seconds for a package, 15 seconds to fill.
“It’s fucking relentless,” Chodak said to his trainee. His job can take up 60 hours a week. That’s time away from his wife, Jill, and 13-year-old son, Isaac.
“There’s a little bit of heartbreak with that,” he said. “That’s the sacrifice you make to have an amazing career.”
Chodak has won several Emmy Awards for both anchoring and reporting. He’s been recognized by the New York State Associated Press for his investigative work and honored for his “Friday Thoughts” segments, which are a blend of journalism and personal reflection.
Today’s story is about a woman fighting to keep her daughter’s killer in prison. In her home, Sue Ann Cross keeps a framed photo of her daughter, Staci Ackerman, on the couch beside her through the whole interview. Her raw emotion is what drew Chodak to the story.
“Huge laughter, huge tears, grief,” he said. “This is how we connect to each other.”
It’s part of why the traditional newsman distrusts social media.
“There’s no time to have human emotion with this,” he said, gesturing at his phone.
If that attitude seems old-fashioned, it’s a necessity for him.
“I don’t have the time or the ability to take in schlock.”
When the interview ends, he and Cross hug.
“The most valuable thing that we own is our own story,” he said on the drive home. “When someone shares theirs with me, that’s such a gift.”
Almost two years ago, Chodak went public with his own story. In a 2023 Friday Thoughts segment, he told viewers he was going blind.
Chodak has Stargardt disease, a rare genetic disorder that affects central vision. It could deteriorate to the point where he can’t read or recognize faces. The disorder usually causes blindness in early adulthood. In that sense, he said, he’s lucky.
“I got to play varsity baseball, meet my wife, build a career and family without even the slightest notion that, as my eye doc said, ‘something’s wrong,’” he said in the 2023 TV segment.
At first, he kept the diagnosis private. But that changed, as did many things, after the pandemic.
“I thought, if I let people know I’m struggling, maybe they’ll feel less alone,” he said.
Chodak could be legally blind in two months or two years. He could lose his independence, or benefit from breakthrough treatment.
“I have no idea what the next few months will bring,” he said. “It’s encouraged me to live more in the present.”
Later, Chodak co-anchors the news with Theresa Marsenburg. The broadcast covers stabbings, a traffic jam on 490, a literacy program for kids in the city and a recurring segment called Backyard Barbecue, where fans visit the station for Bill Gray’s burgers and a tour.
One of the fans, Judy Jones, beamed.
“I like Adam Chodak,” she said. “I like how he presents. It’s very personal.”
That relationship is rare, but it matters.
“There is always going to be an audience of people who like what we deliver,” Chodak said. “I just hope it’s enough to keep me employed.”
He’s not sure how long that will be. But in the meantime, he said he’s fortunate.
“The more I do this, the more I’m grateful I can play that role for people and be a steadying force in their lives.” facebook.com/adamchodak1
Veronica Volk is a reporter for WXXI/CITY.
This article appears in Dec 1-31, 2024.
