Jorie Lueloff Friedman

Jorie Lueloff Friedman (May 31, 1940 – March 12, 2026) was an American journalist. She was the first female reporter and first female news anchor at WMAQ Channel 5 in Chicago.

In 1972, she testified before Congress about her experience with credit discrimination after being prohibited from having credit cards in her own name following her 1970 marriage.

Professional career Friedman's first news job was writing for the Associated Press in New York starting in 1964. Prior to that, she worked for the Central Intelligence Agency.

In 1965, she became the first female reporter at WMAQ, an NBC affiliate in Chicago. She became the station's first female news anchor in 1966.

In 1984, Friedman left WMAQ to join WLS-Channel 7 in Chicago as a regular commentator.

Activism In 1970, she married Richard Friedman. The couple met when she interviewed him during his mayoral race against Richard J. Daley.

Friedman testified before Congress in 1972 regarding her experience of credit discrimination and bias after her marriage. Prior to her marriage, Friedman had established nine years of credit history, which was dissolved once she reported her marital status. Complaints to congressional members inspired a bi-partisan panel to sponsor the hearings based on sex discrimination. Upon marriage, she requested updates to her existing credit cards with her name and address change. The companies, as in the case of Bonwit Teller, either closed her accounts or, as was the case with Marshall Field's, required her to reapply for credit using her husband's information. "Marriage had made me a non person," she reported.

One company, American Express, stopped sending her bills directly and instead sent them to her husband. He requested that the company send them directly to her as they had before the marriage. While Lueloff Friedman kept making payments, the company did not accept them as the account had been changed to her husband's name.

The hearings resulted in Congress passing the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, signed into law by President Gerald Ford on October 28, 1974.

Personal life and death Lueloff Friedman and her husband were married for 51 years until his death in 2023. She died on March 12, 2026, at the age of 85. In 1998, she received a Silver Circle Award.