As most of you know, I spent virtually my entire reporting
career at KXTV, Channel 10, in Sacramento ... 27 years. There were a couple of shorter jobs before at
KHSL-TV (CBS12) in Chico, CA and KPCO Radio (AM1370, now defunct) in Quincy, CA, but
KXTV was my life, my family.
We built a news product that, at its peak, could not be beat
… even by the number one station in town, KCRA.
As the appetite for news has shifted to online sources over the past few
years, mainstream news outlets, TV, radio, newspapers, have suffered a serious
decline. Revenues dropped. Cuts have had
to be made. Journalism has suffered
tremendously.
Facing the reality, Tegna, which owns 42 stations in the
U.S. including KXTV, offered a very generous retirement package to its most
senior employees. As a result, the once
powerful KXTV today is suffering the worst loss in any single day in the
history of Sacramento TV news. Four
veterans are leaving in one day.
George Warren (reporter/anchor 35 years); Mark Pepper
(Stockton photographer/bureau chief for 33 years); Tim Daly (Stockton
reporter/bureau chief for 25 years); Dave Marquis (reporter 23 years) all
wisely accepted the Tegna buyout. Today,
more than a century of news experience walks out the door at 400 Broadway,
Sacramento for the last time. KXTV will
never be the same.
I worked with all these guys for most of my career. In fact, George, Mark, and I worked together at
Channel 12 in Chico since 1979 before we came to Sacramento. They are all the most respected, honored,
award winning broadcast journalists that any TV news operation could hope
for.
But the time is right to move on.
But the time is right to move on.
I write this simply to honor the best in the industry. I grieve for the loss at KXTV which has
become a mere shadow of the station I used to work for. I celebrate the careers and the futures for
my former colleagues. Nice run, you
guys. Thanks for helping make News10/KXTV
the station that it was.
And, best of luck to KXTV, as it and most other broadcast stations in the country try to find a path to profitability and at the same time serve the public with a respectable news product.
Tim & Mark photo: Courtesy Stockton Record
Tim & Mark photo: Courtesy Stockton Record
3 comments:
Well said, Dan
Great tribute piece to these remarkable men. They are the best newsmen and even better people off air.
Nicely put, Dan. It truly is the end of an era.
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