As host of Beyond the Beltway, Bruce DuMont is heard from coast to coast every Sunday night on more than 60 of America's major radio stations. The program began as Inside Politics on WBEZ-FM/Chicago in 1980 and offers a fresh, spirited and balanced analysis of national affairs.
For 19 years beginning in 1987, DuMont anchored Illinois Lawmakers, a television series exploring the Illinois General Assembly, which aired on public television stations throughout Illinois, including WTTW/Chicago. He has also appeared as a guest on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, as well as a guest commentator on CNN.
In addition to being one of the Midwest's most quoted political analysts, DuMont is a civic leader. DuMont is Founder and President of The Museum of Broadcast Communications, one of only two broadcast museums in the United States. The Museum includes America's only Radio Hall of Fame, which DuMont brought to Chicago in 1991.
DuMont began his talk radio career as the original producer of WGN/Chicago's Extension 720 in 1968. After an unsuccessful run for the state legislature, he returned to WGN in 1970 as producer of The Howard Miller Show, one of Chicago's most controversial radio programs.
In February, 1973, DuMont left WGN to begin his own on-air radio career at WLTD/Evanston, Illinois. Working on the 1,000 watt suburban station, DuMont was able to establish a national reputation, due to his investigative interviews and reporting on Watergate, as well as constitutional abuses by the FBI and CIA during the 1970s. His investigative journalistic efforts resulted in a September, 1974, appearance on The Tom Snyder Show on the NBC Television Network.
In September, 1978, DuMont moved to WBBM Television as producer of Noonbreak with Lee Phillip. He transformed the soft/feature program into a news interview program and moved the program from the ratings basement to the top-rated television talk show in Chicago, beating Phil Donahue in his home market.
Through most of 1982, DuMont produced Channel 2: The People for WBBM. In his first season as a television documentarian, he received the highly coveted IRIS Award from the National Association of Television Programming executives for his examination of teenage suicide.
The American Bar Association awarded DuMont a Golden Gavel Award for What Can Johnny Read?, a courtroom production examining the issue of library censorship.
In December 1982, DuMont joined WTTW Television, where he negotiated and produced the historic 1983 Chicago mayoral debates, which led to the election of Harold Washington. While at WTTW, DuMont received two local Chicago Emmy Awards.
DuMont was the original producer of Chicago Tonight with John Callaway, which premiered in April of 1984. In July of that year, DuMont began his on-camera career, when he anchored the national Democratic and Republican Conventions for the highly acclaimed public affairs discussion program. From 1984 through 1991, DuMont was the Senior Political Analyst for WTTW/Channel 11, providing insightful analysis and developing a large and loyal following.
While at WTTW, DuMont produced Campaigning on Cue, the critically acclaimed 1985 PBS series examining the relationship between politics and television.
When DuMont left WTTW in 1991 to become President and CEO of The Museum of Broadcast Communications, his long-time colleague John Callaway, offered the following assessment:
"Bruce DuMont's journalistic leadership following the death of Harold Washington deserves a special place in his own Museum of Broadcast Communications. He said upon coming to WTTW that he wanted to develop into the best on-air political journalist in the city and, in my view, he achieved that goal."
In 1999, DuMont was recognized for his significant contributions to Chicago television and was inducted into the coveted Silver Circle by the Chicago Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.
In 1994, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award from his alma mater, Columbia College/Chicago. DuMont was recognized in 1989 by the Chicago Sun-Times as one of Chicago's most influential television leaders of the 1980s.
DuMont is past Chairman of the Board of the George Foster Peabody Awards at the University of Georgia. In 2008, DuMont received a "Lifetime Achievement Award" from the Chicago Journalists Association.
