Ken Davis is a multi-

Emmy-Award The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning television producer, journalist, and author. After becoming one of the youngest television news anchormen in the country, he went on to have a four-decade career in broadcasting. In 2018, he published a popular memoir about his extensive adventures in the industry.

Career

Davis began his broadcasting career as a radio disc-jockey in Flagstaff and

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ; nv, Hoozdo; es, Fénix or , yuf-x-wal, Banyà:nyuwá) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona, with 1 ...

during his college years. At the age of 20, he began anchoring the news on KOAI-TV (NBC) while completing his degree in Political Science at

Northern Arizona University Northern Arizona University (NAU) is a public research university based in Flagstaff, Arizona. It was founded in 1899 as the final public university established in the Arizona Territory, 13 years before Arizona was admitted as the 48th state. ...

. Davis became a news producer, reporter, and writer at television stations such as

KSBY KSBY (channel 6) is a television station licensed to San Luis Obispo, California, United States, serving the Central Coast of California as an affiliate of NBC and The CW Plus. The station is owned by the E.W. Scripps Company, and maintains s ...

San Luis Obispo, California San Luis Obispo (; Spanish for " St. Louis the Bishop", ; Chumash: ''tiłhini'') is a city and county seat of San Luis Obispo County, in the U.S. state of California. Located on the Central Coast of California, San Luis Obispo is roughly halfwa ...

KTLA KTLA (channel 5) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of The CW. It is the largest directly owned property of the network's majority owner, Nexstar Media Group, and is the seco ...

, KNXT (now KCBS), and

KCOP KCOP-TV (channel 13) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of MyNetworkTV. It is owned and operated by Fox Television Stations alongside Fox outlet KTTV (channel 11). Both stations ...

in Los Angeles as well as with CBS, NBC, and

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

networks. He was a producer with the "

MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour ''PBS NewsHour'' is an American evening news broadcasting#television, television news program broadcast on over 350 PBS Network affiliate#Member stations, member stations. It airs seven nights a week, and is known for its in-depth coverage of i ...

", "Personalities", "

I Witness Video I Witness Video is an NBC News production primetime series and American informational reality television-based television program that aired on NBC on Sunday night from August 16, 1992 to July 10, 1994. It was first seen as a series of six special ...

", "

Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous ''Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous'' is an American television series that aired in syndication from 1984 to 1995. The show featured the extravagant lifestyles of wealthy entertainers, athletes, socialites and magnates. It was hosted by Rob ...

", " Real TV", and " EXTRA" as well as other programs and briefly hosted the PBS program "Why in the World?" Davis has written and produced hundreds of segments for cable channels such as

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

History History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the History of writing#Inventions of writing, invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbr ...

Biography A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

, Animal Planet, The Travel Channel, and VH-1. He has also taught journalism classes at

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California St ...

and USC and appeared in the Columbia motion picture, "

Wrong Is Right ''Wrong Is Right'', released in the UK as ''The Man with the Deadly Lens'', is a 1982 American comedy thriller film written, produced and directed by Richard Brooks, based on Charles McCarry's novel '' The Better Angels''. The film, starring ...

Book

Davis's memoir, "In Bed with Broadcasting", includes exclusive adventures with dozens of well-known figures from

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...

to Walter Cronkite to

Phil Spector Harvey Phillip Spector (born Harvey Philip Spector; December 26, 1939January 16, 2021) was an American record producer and songwriter, best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s, followed decades later by ...

. He also writes about when he had a face-to-face encounter with the

Hillside Strangler The Hillside Strangler, later the Hillside Stranglers, is the media epithet for one, later discovered to be two, American serial killers who terrorized Los Angeles, California, between October 1977 and February 1978, with the nicknames originating ...

, conducted the final interview with actor Henry Fonda, and unexpectedly came across the lifeless body of actress Mae West. In addition, Davis addresses ethics in television news and explores concepts to improve the credibility of the journalism profession.

Awards and commendations

Davis is the recipient of three Emmy awards, three Golden Mikes, and two Genesis Awards for outstanding news coverage. He has received commendations from the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

, the

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The A ...

, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, and the

Los Angeles Police Department The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the third-large ...

for his contributions to broadcast journalism. In 2019, Davis was inducted into the

John Muir High School John Muir High School is a four-year comprehensive secondary school in Pasadena, California, United States and is a part of the Pasadena Unified School District. The school is named after preservationist John Muir. History In 1926 the Pasadena ...

(Pasadena, CA) distinguished alumni Hall of Fame.

Personal life

Davis and his wife, Carole, live in Southern California. He has two sons, Christopher and Philip.

References

External links

Official website

Ken Davis on IMDB

In Bed with Broadcasting Amazon page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Ken Living people Emmy Award winners Journalists from California American television journalists People from Los Angeles Year of birth missing (living people)