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KION 46 and Telemundo 23 news shut down completely Tuesday. Lights out, go home, literally nothing to see here.
KION’s reporters, videographers, editors, writers and producers were a scrappy, highly talented and motivated bunch of street-smart journalists who loved what they did and might have worked for free had KION not insisted on paying them slightly more than they could earn delivering pizzas.
In fact, one of the station’s top anchors some years ago did deliver pizzas in his off-hours just to get a few extra bucks to survive so he could stay in this area and keep doing the news.
My former colleagues at KGO-TV and KPIX know that without KION’s people slipping us a video or two, sometimes for a small payment, sometimes in the hope of getting a job, sometimes just for the thrill of seeing their work on a big-city station, the San Francisco Bay Area would never have experienced the occasional joys of watching those who were doing their best to “Keep Santa Cruz Weird.”
But aside from those “only in Santa Cruz” stories so appealing to the out-of-town normies, KION covered the meat and potatoes of local news every day for the benefit of its hometown audience: local and county government meetings, police-blotter stuff, trials, college and high school sports. Plus, when they had time, some awfully good human-interest stories that let them stretch their legs.
I hope KPIX will attempt to fill the void. My experience tells me KION News will be missed.
If this sounds like an obituary, it is. Requiescat in pace. KION News was part of our community for 56 years.
Tony Russomanno is a retired reporter for KGO-TV and KPIX whose office was a rock on West Cliff Drive. He has lived in Santa Cruz since 1980.