Meet The Team

Art McFarland

After more than two decades, and an endless variety of assignments at Eyewitness News, Art McFarland is very comfortable with the title of Education Reporter. His education stories have ranged from the latest innovations in educational technology, to successful teaching techniques, to unfortunate acts of misconduct by the small minority of misguided educators. Art was first in reporting the story of an overzealous city teacher who used packaging tape to discipline and restrain grade-school students. He had unlimited access at a Brooklyn school, where the principal was forced to suspend outside recess due to gunfire in the neighborhood. His report on a computer program that makes it nearly impossible for students to plagiarize term papers, and a story on interactive software that teaches small children to read, follow Art's long-established pattern of in-depth news coverage.

In the mid 1980's, his series of exclusive reports helped expose corruption and child prostitution among residents of New York City's welfare hotel system. Another series exposed a lack of fencing around Amtrak rail lines in upper Manhattan, which posed a danger to children who used the tracks as their playground. Art reported from South Africa on the political climate and the 1st anniversary of Nelson Mandela's election to the presidency.

He has received many awards for excellence in reporting from groups that include the New York State Broadcasters Association, various professional societies of the New York City Police and Fire Departments, the New York Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church, the New York area chapter of the Tuskegee Airmen and the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Art attended Tuskegee University and the University of Michigan where he studied history, speech and drama.

Return to Bio Index