Mike Barz (bornMichael Barszcz; April 9, 1970) is an American broadcaster who was weekday morning news anchor atWFOX-TV andWJAX-TV inJacksonville, Florida. He was a morning news anchor atWFLD, the Fox affiliate inChicago, Illinois from 2007-2009.[1][2]
Michael Barszcz was born inLos Angeles to a military family. He moved to the Midwest to attendIndiana University Bloomington, where he earned a bachelor's degree in 1993.[3]
Early in his career, Barz adjusted his surname and began working as a news anchor atWHBF-TV inRock Island, Illinois and atWLUK-TV inGreen Bay, Wisconsin, where he worked as a feature reporter and anchor.[3] Barz left WLUK in 1998 to come to Chicago to take a job atWGN-TV as the sports anchor for theWGN Morning News, joining a morning news team with a controversially comedic bent.[3]
In early May 2005, Barz received an early release from his contract at WGN-TV to become a full-time feature contributor atABC News'Good Morning America (GMA).[4] Barz anchored the GMA's weather segment afterTony Perkins' departure from the show in 2005 until September 5, 2006 when he was succeeded bySam Champion.
In March 2007, Barz returned to Chicago as a co-anchor ofWFLD-TV's "Fox News in the Morning," working alongside co-anchorsTamron Hall andDavid Novarro.[5] Novarro subsequently was moved to a different WFLD newscast, and after Hall joinedMSNBC in New York, Barz was joined by a new co-anchor,Jan Jeffcoat, in June 2007.
In July 2010, Barz was hired as a weekday morning news anchor at the Action News Jax stations,WAWS andWTEV-TV, inJacksonville, Florida.[2] His contract was not renewed in 2014 as part of a larger newsroom shakeup.[6]
Barz was present at the 40th anniversary ofGood Morning America on November 19, 2015.
In 2018, Mike Barz becameWISH-TV’s evening news anchor for the 6pm, 10pm, and 11pm newscasts.
Barz married formerWFLD-TV reporter Tera Williams (a.k.a. Tera Barz), in 2010. She was his co-anchor atWFOX-TV, until June 2012. Barz and Williams divorced in October 2014.