"BREAKING NEWS: My Front Row Seat is a must-read." –Peter Maer, Retired CBS News White House Correspondent
"Arrives at exactly the right moment—when we need to remember why journalism matters." –Andrew Heyward, former president, CBS News
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Drawing on more than fifty years in broadcast news, award-winning journalist Tim Scheld takes readers behind the headlines to reveal how history is witnessed, reported, and remembered by the journalists entrusted with telling the world what happened.
Beginning with his first taste of journalism in college, Scheld traces a career that took him from small-town Pennsylvania to New York City, where he became an award-winning reporter and later News Director of WCBS Newsradio 880, one of America's most respected all-news stations. His assignments placed him at the center of many defining moments in modern history, including the Oklahoma City bombing, Columbine, TWA Flight 800, the death of Princess Diana, and President Bill Clinton's impeachment.
Scheld takes readers behind the scenes of broadcast journalism, revealing how major stories are reported, how difficult editorial decisions are made under relentless deadlines, and what it feels like to arrive at the scene of someone's best—or worst—day. From bicycling into Manhattan after the September 11 attacks to leading a newsroom through Superstorm Sandy and the COVID-19 pandemic, he offers a rare insider's view of the profession. With warmth, humility, and occasional humor, he celebrates the reporters, photographers, producers, engineers, editors, and broadcasters whose work helps keep the public informed. Scheld reminds readers that the people who cover the news are their neighbors and friends—ordinary people who bear witness to extraordinary moments.
As local newsrooms disappear and public confidence in the media continues to erode, Scheld reflects on the changing state of journalism. Drawing on a lifetime devoted to factual, responsible reporting, he makes a compelling case for why journalism remains not simply a business, but a public trust. A former national board chair of the Radio, Television, Digital News Association and current media studies educator, Scheld remains an active voice in defending journalism and mentoring the young people who are carrying it forward.
Part memoir and part history, My Front Row Seat offers an unforgettable look at the stories behind the stories—and the people who dedicated their lives to telling them.
Tim Scheld is an award-winning broadcast journalist with a distinguished five-decade career in news at both the local and national levels. He spent half of his career as a radio reporter in New York, working at WOR and WCBS-AM, before becoming a national radio correspondent for ABC News based in New York. In 2003, he transitioned from reporting to news management, taking on the role of news director at WCBS NewsRadio 880, where he led the newsroom for two decades-becoming the longest-serving news director in the station's history. He stepped down in late 2022 to begin a new chapter teaching media management and journalism at Montclair State University. In 2025, he developed a graduate course in Digital Media Innovation for the university's strategic communications master's program.Throughout his reporting career, Scheld covered some of the most significant stories of his time, including the Oklahoma City bombing, the Columbine High School shooting, the death of Princess Diana, the Gulf War, multiple US presidential campaigns, and the September 11th attacks. As news director, he guided WCBS's coverage of major events such as the Sandy Hook school shooting, superstorm Sandy, and the COVID-19 pandemic. Beyond the newsroom, Scheld has been an influential leader in journalism ethics and education. In 2015, he was elected to the national board of the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA). He served as chairman of the RTDNA Board of Directors from 2022 to 2024 and held multiple terms as chairman of the organization's ethics committee.
