Jay Levine

Jay Levine is the chief correspondent for CBS 2 Chicago.

He joined CBS 2 Chicago as weekend anchor and reporter in 1990 before being named chief correspondent in 1991. He later anchored the station’s early morning news with his wife, Mary Ann Childers, before returning to his role as chief correspondent.

In 1991, he became the first Chicago reporter to broadcast live from Saudi Arabia, the day before the Gulf War began. He was the only Chicago TV reporter in Saudi Arabia from the time the first shots were fired until after the cease-fire was signed. During that two-month period, Levine filed 260 live reports for CBS 2 Chicago and CBS stations around the country.

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In 2003, he was the only Chicago television reporter embedded with U.S. troops during Operation Iraqi Freedom, covering the 101st Airborne, and its Chicago-area soldiers, from the deserts of Kuwait to Saddam’s palaces in Baghdad.

He has traveled the globe covering politics, international affairs and uncovering scandals. Levine’s reports range from interviewing the Pope, to dodging bullets in Beirut, to chasing drug runners in the Andes. In 1996, his coverage of Cardinal Bernardin’s death was widely acclaimed by both his peers and the public. He covered Hurricanes Katrina and Rita extensively and their aftermath along the Gulf Coast.

Levine’s awards include a National RTNDA Award and an Edward R. Murrow Regional Award for writing –”Farewell to the Pope.” His reports have helped CBS 2 Chicago win two national Emmy Awards: one in 2008 for the station’s coverage of the CTA Blue Line derailment and one in 2006 for coverage of the death of Pope John Paul II. Levine has also won 11 local Emmy Awards including a 2005 Emmy for Outstanding Coverage Within a Newscast –”Farewell to the Pope,” a Jacob Scher Award for Investigative Reporting, and numerous AP and UPI honors.

Prior to joining CBS 2 Chicago, Levine was a general assignment reporter for WLS-TV from 1974 to 1990. He also worked as a news reporter for WCAU-AM Radio, the CBS owned station in Philadelphia (1972-74). Levine began his journalism career as a news and sports anchor and reporter for WHCU-AM/FM Radio, the CBS affiliate in Ithaca, NY, while still in college.

Levine is involved in several organizations in Chicago, including Children’s Memorial Hospital, the Spinal Cord Injury Association, the Kidney Foundation, Rush-University Medical Center and the Latin School of Chicago.

Levine, an avid golfer, graduated from Cornell University with a degree in engineering.