…through perseverance, he became the first broadcaster admitted to the Press Gallery and went on to be elected its president.
Sam Ross started out working as an office boy at the Winnipeg Tribune and from there he never looked back. He worked as a reporter for the Regina Leader-Post, city editor for the Calgary Albertan and joined The Canadian Press in 1931. In 1941, he was appointed the first manager of Press News Ltd. (later Broadcast News) which provided newscasts to private broadcast companies. Sam later became news director of CKWX Vancouver, a job he left to serve overseas as a correspondent during the Second World War. He was with the Canadian Forces when they crossed the Rhine in 1945. After the war he returned to CKWX in Vancouver as assistant manager.
In 1958, Sam was asked to set up a news service in Ottawa for the All-Canada Mutually Operated Stations Group. It was a time when the Press Gallery did not accept radio correspondents, and for his first year had to cover Parliament from the public gallery. But, through perseverance, he became the first broadcaster admitted to the Press Gallery and went on to be elected its president.
He retired from broadcasting in 1968 and returned to Vancouver where he lectured for two years at Langara College.
Sam Ross passed away in 1977.
In 1986, he was inducted into the CAB Hall of Fame.