In a blue blazer and faded jeans hidden below the anchor desk, King Harris crusaded for great reporting, sensitivity, and authenticity.
King ruled as news director at KEYT from 1984 to 1997 and delivered the reports through a slight center gap in his teeth. Often anchors in fancy big TV markets fixed those gaps with absurd veneers that looked white piano keys crowding their mouths. Not King. He barely combed his hair before going on TV, flipping it back and greeting the viewer seconds later with an earnest delivery.
King waged war with his loafers usually kicked off in the walk-in closet of a newsroom, often his golden retriever nearby. He fought for a legion of his employees to report in their voice, with compassion and limitless creativity. He fought against wafer-thin reporting and dangerous, formula-addled consultants invading broadcast journalism.