John Michael Tuck (September 10, 1945 – August 17, 2022) was an American journalist. He was best known for his work on television in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and Cultural area, cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most po ...

where he had anchored for television stations in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

Early career

From 1967 to 1970, Tuck (during his studies at Trinity University) worked at

San Antonio ("Cradle of Freedom") , image_map = , mapsize = 220px , map_caption = Interactive map of San Antonio , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1= U.S. state, State , subdivision_name1 = Texas , s ...

station

KENS-TV KENS (channel 5) is a television station in San Antonio, Texas, United States, affiliated with CBS and owned by Tegna Inc. The station's studios are located on Fredericksburg Road in northwest San Antonio, near the South Texas Medical Center, wh ...

. In 1970, he joined then-

independent station An independent station is an independent radio or terrestrial television station which is independent in some way from broadcast networks. The definition of "independence" varies from country to country, reflecting governmental regulations, market ...

KTVU KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving as the San Francisco Bay Area's Fox network outlet. It is owned and operated by the network's Fox Television Stations division alongside San Jose� ...

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

where he joined with

Ron Fortner Ronnie Fortner (October 12, 1941 – February 7, 2003) was an American radio and television anchor. Early life Fortner was born in Poteau, Oklahoma. Career Fortner spent more than thirty years as a broadcaster, working alongside veteran Cali ...

to form ''The Tuck-Fortner Report''. After their news program was cancelled in 1974, Tuck left KTVU and joined

WCAU WCAU (channel 10) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the NBC network. It is owned and operated by the network's NBC Owned Television Stations division alongside Mount Laurel, New Jerse ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

to anchor their ''TV-10 News'' alongside Jack Jones. However, in 1976, both Tuck and Jones were replaced by

Ralph Penza Ralph Penza (November 22, 1932 – February 16, 2007) was a senior correspondent and substitute anchor for WNBC in New York City. He first joined WNBC in 1980, left the station in 1995 and rejoined it in October 1997. Among his many honors are six E ...

and Joan Dinerstein. Jones left WCAU for

KYW-TV KYW-TV (channel 3) is a television station in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, airing programming from the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside CW affiliate WPSG (channel 57 ...

and Tuck continued with WCAU as a weekend anchor until 1978.

Work in Southern California

Early years in San Diego

Tuck began his San Diego career in 1978 for

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

affiliate

KFMB-TV KFMB-TV (channel 8) is a television station in San Diego, San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with CBS, The CW, and MyNetworkTV. Owned by Tegna Inc., it has studios on Engineer Road in the Kearny Mesa, San Diego, Kearny Mesa section ...

. Under the direction of news director Jim Holtzman, ''news ei8ht'' with Tuck, co-anchors Allison Ross and Hal Clement, weathercaster Clark Anthony and sports anchor Ted Leitner help led KFMB rise up to first-place position in 1979. In 1984, Tuck left KFMB for

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

affiliate

KGTV KGTV (channel 10) is a television station in San Diego, California, United States, affiliated with ABC and owned by the E. W. Scripps Company. The station's studios are located on Air Way in the Riverview-Webster section of San Diego, and its ...

where alongside co-anchors Carol LeBeau,

Bree Walker Bree Walker (born Patricia Lynn Nelson; February 26, 1953) is an American radio talk show host, actress, and disability-rights activist. She gained fame as the first on-air American television network news anchor with ectrodactyly. Walker work ...

and Kimberly Hunt helped made KGTV reclaim the #1 position in San Diego news ratings. In addition, KGTV gained credibility with the "Perspectives," a nightly commentary delivered by Tuck which utilized a fairly predictable formula. It started with Tuck by either attacking or praising an individual or organization, then explains his premises and draws a strong conclusion—all served up with a voice that seems to emanate, in tone and intent, from behind a burning bush. For sake of distinguishment between commentary and news anchoring, Tuck did his "Perspectives" without a jacket and his tie loosen.

Los Angeles years

In 1990, Tuck left KGTV and joined Los Angeles television station

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the network's CBS News and Stations division alongside independent outl ...

in September. At KCBS-TV, Tuck anchored the ''Channel 2 Action News'' and also brought his "Perspectives" commentary segments to that stations newscasts. Tuck's co-anchors at KCBS-TV included Walker,

Tritia Toyota Tritia Toyota (born March 29, 1947) is a former Los Angeles television news anchor and a current adjunct assistant professor in anthropology, Asian American studies and the media at the University of California at Los Angeles. Early life and e ...

and former

KABC-TV KABC-TV (channel 7) is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast flagship of the ABC network. Owned and operated by the network's ABC Owned Television Stations division, the station maintains stud ...

newscaster Ann Martin. However, as a result of a news room shake-up, Tuck was dismissed from KCBS-TV in August 1999 (which became ''CBS 2 News'' at the time of his departure). He later cited his disenchantment with the station's high management turnover and, from his perspective, an obsession with celebrities and sensationalism in its news coverage.

Return to San Diego

Tuck returned to KFMB-TV in 1999 and resumed his position as anchor for ''News 8,'' which later became ''Local 8 News'' from 2001 to 2005. He departed KFMB-TV in late 2004 and in the following year, joined

KUSI-TV KUSI-TV (channel 51) is an independent television station in San Diego, California, United States. It is the sole property of locally based McKinnon Broadcasting Company. KUSI-TV's studios are located on Viewridge Avenue (near I-15) in the ...

as news anchor for their daily afternoon and evening newscasts alongside his KGTV colleague Kimberly Hunt. Tuck departed KUSI-TV in 2007.

Filmography

*''

Prizzi's Honor ''Prizzi's Honor'' is a 1985 American black comedy crime film directed by John Huston, starring Jack Nicholson and Kathleen Turner as two highly-skilled mob assassins who, after falling in love, are hired to kill each other. The screenplay co-w ...

'' (1985) – Anchorman "Fred" *''

Armageddon According to the Book of Revelation in the New Testament of the Christian Bible, Armageddon (, from grc, Ἁρμαγεδών ''Harmagedōn'', Late Latin: , from Hebrew: ''Har Məgīddō'') is the prophesied location of a gathering of armies ...

'' (1998) – American Newscaster

Personal life

Tuck was a resident of the

Rancho Bernardo Rancho Bernardo is a master-planned community in the northern hills of the city of San Diego, California. Geography The topography of Rancho Bernardo consists of canyons and rolling hills that have large bedrock outcroppings. The major floral bio ...

neighborhood in northeastern San Diego. He died on August 17, 2022, of post-stroke complications.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tuck, Michael 2022 deaths American television journalists Television anchors from Los Angeles Television anchors from San Diego 1945 births American male journalists