The 43-year WABC (NYC) television Sunday public affairs program Like It Is broadcast its last on October 16, 2011, three months after 
producer and host Gil Noble, the 79-year-old jazz fan, pianist and board member of the Jazz Foundation of America, suffered a debilitating stroke. Newly-joined JJA member Angelika Beener 
writes in her blog Alternate Takes: Broadening the Jazz Perspective that while Noble’s show has come to an end, his influence has not. As journalist and interviewer, he’s a hero and role model.
“There has been no other program that has given voice to the totality of Black America — politics, current and public affairs, arts, culture and more — than Like It Is,” writes Beener, who has described herself as “The Improbable Aficionado.”
I can’t think of a journalist more progressive, introspective, and passionate than Gil Noble. He was also the first image of a Black journalist that I had ever seen, which made an indelible impression on my conscious and subconscious young mind. Growing up watching Like It Is every Sunday was as routine as afternoon football, church, or any other traditional Sunday activity. Being part of a household which nurtured both the arts, and social and cultural awareness, Like It Is was a reflection of my real life lessons and experiences, particularly as it pertained to jazz.
Beener previously posted an article “Nice Work If We Can Get It: Women Writing About Jazz” reflecting on gender bias in jazz journalism.
ABC could have gone in the ARCHIVES and PLAYED WHAT 43 YEARS OF HISTORY in place of his physical absence... but nooo... I won't say anything else