R.I.P.: Broadcast Pioneer Florence Sando Manson Passes At 95

Florence Sando-Manson

Florence Sando Manson, a pioneering woman newscaster in radio and the early years of television journalism who hosted “The Florence Manson Show” in Pittsburgh, died on Nov. 25 at home from complications related to dementia.

She was 95, according to The Riverdale Press.

Sando broke out of the confines of gossip and fashion coverage that women broadcasters were usually relegated to, spending 18 years as a popular on-air, Pittsburgh–based personality.

In an era when women broadcasters were expected to keep their shows light and frothy, Ms. Manson tackled the hard news of the day from 1941 to 1959.

She interviewed well-known public figures such as Eleanor Roosevelt on radio as well as celebrities on TV. Danny Kaye and Louis Armstrong were among her guests. Some of these interviews are available at the Museum of Broadcasting in New York.