E. Gilbert Forbes was a pioneering broadcast journalist in Indiana, best known as the first news anchor for WFBM-TV, Indiana’s first television station, which went on air in May 1949. His authoritative delivery and credibility made him a dominant force in Indianapolis radio during the 1940s, and he successfully transitioned to television, becoming the state’s first television journalist.
Born on May 20, 1904, in St. Louis, Forbes graduated from the University of Dubuque and was also an organist graduate of Chicago’s American Conservatory. He began his career as a newspaper reporter in Chicago during the 1920s before transitioning to broadcast news at WIL in St. Louis, later becoming news editor at WKBB in Dubuque, Iowa.
In 1937, Forbes joined WFBM Radio in Indianapolis, marking the beginning of his most influential period in broadcasting. He quickly established himself as a major broadcast news force, building up the station’s news coverage.
Forbes’ career reached new heights during World War II. On December 7, 1941, he was the first to broadcast the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, beating the network bulletin by two minutes.
In 1944, he was selected as one of six broadcast newsmen in the nation, not employed by a national network, to be accredited as a war correspondent. Landing at Omaha Beach thirty days after D-Day, Forbes reported on the experiences of Indiana soldiers in the European Theater.
When WFBM-TV launched in 1949 as Indiana’s first television station, Forbes became the state’s first television journalist. He maintained a grueling schedule, appearing on both radio and television seven days a week, often writing and delivering 37 quarter-hour news shows weekly.
Forbes created the popular “Test the Press” television show, which aired from 1949 to 1955.
Forbes was diagnosed with lung cancer in October 1960 and suffered a stroke on May 21, 1961. He passed away on September 18, 1961, at Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis.
E. Gilbert Forbes was inducted into both the Indiana Broadcast Hall of Fame and the Indiana Journalism Hall of Fame, cementing his legacy as a trailblazer in the field.
