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Al Allen
After a half-century career in journalism, Al Allen is known and loved as a legend and an icon amongst viewers across Southeast Michigan.
Born Andrew Long in segregated Little Rock...view moreAfter a half-century career in journalism, Al Allen is known and loved as a legend and an icon amongst viewers across Southeast Michigan.
Born Andrew Long in segregated Little Rock, Arkansas, he moved to Detroit with his family as a teenager, and attended Mumford High School. There he fell in love with journalism while reporting on trends and events for the school's internal news broadcast, Spotlight on Mumford.
He returned to Little Rock in 1969 to serve as news director at KOKY radio. Two years later, he moved back to Detroit, becoming a reporter and news director at WCXI-AM and WGPR-FM, then as news and public affairs director at WJLB-FM. Al began his 28-year career with WJBK Fox 2 News in March of 1984.
Al's commitment to high-integrity journalism earned him many local and national awards. United Press International and the Associated Press both awarded him for his reporting on "The Otto Wendell Story." UPI and AP, along with the National Association of Black Journalists, bestowed Al with awards for "Merry-Go-Round of Denial: The Black Alcoholic." His trailblazing work on "Crime by Color, Black on Black," a documentary that examined the issues surrounding black-on-black crime in Detroit, earned him the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award. And his report - "Motown: Where Did Our Love Go?" - earned an Associated Press award and was nominated for an Emmy from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
Al retired from Fox 2 News in 2012.
He celebrates 51 years of marriage to Alfreda Long, and enjoys spending time with his son, Andrew Long, Jr.; daughter-in-law, Yolanda; and his two grandsons, Andrew III and Evan.view less