Al Allen, Award-Winning Detroit Reporter, Dies at 79: ‘A Fixture On Air'

Mar. 15, 2025

Award-winning reporter Al Allen has died. He was 79.

FOX affiliate WJBK, where Allen worked for nearly 30 years,announced his deathon Wednesday, Feb. 5, citing a family spokesperson.

Allen died at a Metro Detroit hospital on the night of Tuesday, Feb. 4, WJBK reported.

“For nearly 30 years, Allen was a fixture on air on FOX 2, reporting on crime and corruption, featuring stories highlighting the best of people in Metro Detroit,” the station said. “He was a constant presence, bringing viewers traffic and weather reports with a style and sensibility that was uniquely his own."

Born Andrew Long, Allen spent the first 13 years of his life in Little Rock before moving to Detroit, according to WJBK.

He began reporting at Mumford High School for its student in-house broadcast, “Spotlight on Mumford,” per his biography on theMichigan Journalism Hall of Fame’s website.

Allen returned to Little Rock in 1969 and worked at KOKY radio, but moved back to Detroit two years later.  He then worked at WCXI-AM, WGPR-FM and WJLB-FM — all in Michigan — until joining WJBK in Detroit in 1984. There, he spent nearly three decades covering local news before retiring in 2012.

Throughout his carer, Allen won numerous awards for his reporting from organizations like United Press International, the Associated Press and the National Association of Black Journalists.

Additionally, his report, “Motown: Where Did Our Love Go?” was nominated for an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.

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He also covered the funeral procession for Rosa Parks in Washington in 1975, which he detailed in his 2018 memoirWe’re Standing By.

Allen met his wife, Alfreda Long, in Detroit, according to WJBk and the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame. They had one son, Andrew Long Jr., and two grandsons, Andrew III and Evan.

source: people.com