WTOP business reporter Jeff Clabaugh is dead at 63, following a yearlong battle with cancer and days after delivering his final update on-air. Clabaugh was a staple voice of Hubbard Broadcasting’s Washington, DC-based station for more than three decades.
The news was shared by WTOP on Friday.
Clabaugh’s journalism career began in Omaha, reporting on commodities markets for WOW-AM. His work later took him to USA Today, Sky Radio, and Radio Netherlands in Holland.
He joined WTOP in the 1990s as a news anchor, then spent years with the Washington Business Journal, continuing to provide business reports on WTOP. In 2016, he officially became WTOP’s in-house business reporter. At the station, Clabaugh was known for his annual tradition of “Jeff Clabaugh Day,” when he brought lunch for the newsroom to thank colleagues.
WTOP Director of News and Programming Julia Ziegler told staff in an email Friday, “Jeff Clabaugh made WTOP’s Business Reports what they are today. His work ethic was incredible. And his voice was so smooth. He was one of the best storytellers in the WTOP newsroom.”
