Where Are They Now? Dick Russ Is Still Serving Northeast Ohio

By Frank Macek

Some names in Cleveland television never really fade. Dick Russ is one of them. If you’ve watched local news in Northeast Ohio over the past several decades, there’s a good chance he has been part of your life at some point, whether you caught him anchoring at midday on Channel 8 or leading the newsroom at Channel 3.

So where is he now? Busier than most people half his career length, and still working on behalf of the community he spent decades covering.

Let’s start at the beginning, because Dick’s path was a classic climb from radio to television. In July 1974, he started as a news reporter at WHLO radio in Akron. By December 1976, he had moved to WAKR-TV, WAKR-AM and WAEZ-FM, also in Akron, working as a news anchor and producer. That’s the kind of training ground that teaches you everything: how to write fast, how to produce your own work, and how to be ready to go live no matter what the day hands you.

Courtesy: NE Ohio TV Memories

In November 1979, Dick joined WJW-TV in Cleveland, where he spent nearly 20 years as a news anchor and reporter, including a long run as the station’s noon anchor. Anyone who watched Channel 8 in the 1980s or 1990s likely remembers the name. In October 1999, he moved to WKYC as managing editor, a role he held for more than 13 years until February 2013.

The honors piled up along the way. By the time the Press Club of Cleveland inducted him into its Journalism Hall of Fame in 2009, Dick was already a member of the Ohio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, and he had received the Silver Circle Award from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. He had also collected 10 regional Emmys. Colleagues have long said his way with words set him apart, which is the kind of compliment that outlasts any trophy. In 2018, the Cleveland Association of Broadcasters recognized him again with its Excellence in Broadcasting award.

But here’s what I find most interesting. When Dick left the Channel 3 newsroom, he didn’t slow down. He simply pointed that energy somewhere new.

In fact, he had already started. In March 2009, while still managing the Channel 3 newsroom, Dick became executive producer of Eastern Christian Media, which creates and produces religious broadcast and online programming with a special focus on the Eastern Catholic Churches. He stayed in that role until December 2021.

Dick Russ, WKYC

The month he left WKYC, February 2013, he became vice president of North Coast Community Homes, a non-profit that develops and maintains safe, comfortable and affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities, mental illness and other disabilities. He stayed until July 2017, and he was instrumental in launching North Coast Accessible Homes, a division that modifies the homes of older adults who want to stay in their own homes as they age.

That idea became the focus of his next venture. From November 2017 to December 2019, Dick served as president of Adaptive Home Services, based in Solon. The company provides safety, accessibility and mobility adaptations for older adults who wish to “age in place” as an alternative to institutional care, and it offers free home assessments from Certified Aging-in-Place professionals. For many families, that’s one of the most important and emotional decisions they will ever face.

Meanwhile, back in the world of broadcasting, Dick was busy building something. In November 2013, he became a founding board member of St. Peter the Rock Media, which operates Cleveland Catholic Radio: WCCR AM 1260 “The Rock,” WNCR AM 930, and FM 100.3, all affiliates of the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network. Thirteen years later, he’s still there. Launching a radio operation from scratch is no small task, and it makes sense that someone with Dick’s background in broadcast management, performance and production would be a natural fit.

Then, in April 2015, he stepped into another role as executive producer of Living Right Media, which he co-founded. The company produces the weekly program Living Right with Dr. Ray, along with other Catholic broadcast programs. Living Right airs on the EWTN Global Catholic Television Network and is broadcast in 450 million households across 150 countries. Think about that for a moment. A broadcaster who built his career serving Northeast Ohio now has a program that reaches homes around the world.

He has also established a number of not-for-profit media organizations over the years, which tells you something about how he thinks about the work. For Dick, media has never been only about ratings or reach. It’s a tool for serving people.

There’s a quiet connection, too, between that mission and everything he did on the air. A good reporter learns to listen, to understand what people actually need, and to explain complicated things in plain language. Those are the same skills it takes to sit down with a family and figure out how to make a home safer, or to help a community build housing that works for people with disabilities.

Put it all together and the picture is clear. Dick Russ has now been serving the people of Northeast Ohio for more than 50 years, first as a professional journalist and then as a leader in the community’s civic life. The platform changed. The mission didn’t.

Plenty of people leave this business and quietly enjoy the quiet. Dick took what he learned about telling stories, running a newsroom and understanding a community, and he put it to work building radio stations, producing television programs, and helping older neighbors stay in their homes. That’s not retirement. That’s a second career with a bigger mission. Not bad for a career that began in the newsroom of an Akron radio station in 1974.

So the next time you’re driving around Northeast Ohio and spin the dial past AM 1260 or FM 100.3, remember that one of the people behind those stations is a familiar face from Cleveland TV history, still doing what he has always done, which is showing up for this community.

If you have a favorite memory of Dick from his years on Channel 8 or Channel 3, I’d love to hear it. Local television is built on moments like those.