Over the course of a 6-decade-long career in journalism, Bill Kurtis has covered just about everything. Murders. Cold cases. Deadly chemicals.
And, yes, the whirlwind that launched his career.
Kurtis, alongside Plainspoken Books editor Alec Loganbill and Kansas Reflector opinion writer Max McCoy, led a conversation about journalism and his career in the field that brought an estimated 400 people to the Emporia Granada Theatre on Sunday. Before that, he spoke at length to KVOE News about the profession and his role in it. Kurtis wanted to be a pro football player, but injuries in college and his physical size derailed that dream. So it was off to the University of Kansas for a journalism degree, Washburn University for his law degree and TV-13 for a part-time broadcasting job. The June 8, 1966 Topeka tornado, an F-5 that killed nearly 20 people and injured over 500, began spinning up shortly after he reported to TV-13 as a fill-in anchor for the 6 pm news that night.
Kurtis then went to WBBM-TV in Chicago as a reporter and anchor before becoming a reporter for CBS News — at that time throughout the 1970s, the gold standard in American TV news. While at WBBM, his law degree led to him being the station reporter on mass murderer Richard Speck, who killed 8 student nurses. Then it was the Conspiracy 7 riot trial during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago and, shortly after going to CBS, the Charles Manson murder trial of 1970-71. Working with CBS at that time meant working with broadcast icon Walter Cronkite, who led by “presence,” according to Kurtis. The rule for reporters at the time?
More reporter goals: do the best you can for the person you interview and don’t interject yourself into the story.
With the career comes several potential pitfalls.
Among the people who worked with Kurtis at WBBM was camera operator Don Norling. His grandson, Jeff, was among those in attendance Sunday. Jeff Norling was seeking some answers about his grandfather, and Kurtis was only too happy to oblige.
After working directly with CBS News, Kurtis returned to WBBM for several years before co-anchoring the CBS Morning News. Then he developed Kurtis Productions, a documentary production company responsible for content for programs like Investigative Reports, Cold Case Files, Investigating History, American Greed and others. He also hosts the PBS quiz show Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me. Regardless of the track for his career, Kurtis says he gets the most joy from doing his job well and having an impact.
One of the big stories in Kurtis’ career, aside from the major murder cases, did exactly that: unraveling the physical effects of Agent Orange on people at the end of the Vietnam War. His reporting didn’t sit well with several chemical companies at the time.
Norling says some of his grandfather has rubbed of on him through his love of photography. He also says Kurtis’ appearance in Emporia, a place with a rich tradition of local journalism, comes at an opportune time with the field rapidly changing.
At the end of the presentation, the audience sang Kurtis “happy birthday” ahead of his 86th birthday next week. Afterward, he signed copies of his book, “Whirlwind: My Life Reporting the News.” Sunday’s event was hosted by the William Allen White Community Partnership.
Full interview with KVOE News
Click here for KVOE’s YouTube channel, including videos from the Emporia appearance.
Photos by Chuck Samples/KVOE News
