Chicago Anchorman Bill Kurtis on His New Book ‘Whirlwind’ and Journalism’s Crisis Moment – ryan

Bill Kurtis Was a MainneinsTay of Chicago’s Television News Landscape for Decades, appearing at the anchor desk Alongside Walter Jacobson on WBBM and Nationally with Diane on CBS Morning News.

AS A BROADCAST JOURNALIST, he covered some of the 20th Century’s Most grues MURDER CASES, From Charles Manson to Richard Speckand Broke Landmark Reporting on the use of Agent Orange During the Vietnam War. More recently, he has lent his signature deep voice to both will Ferrell’s “anchorman” and npr’s wee quiz show “Wait Wait … don’t tell me!”

But his bro. Kurtis, WHO TURNS 85 This Month, Recounts It All in His Aptly Titly Memoir “Whirllwind”Which is outday from University Press of Kansas.

It all began the night curtis was on air during a tornado in his native kansas. The Young 20-Something was Still Decill BetWeen Being A Newsman or Putting His Law to Work, Having Already Accept A Job at A Firm.

But that Night, with a Tornado on the horizon, Kurtis LOOKED INTO The Camera and Said, with a bit of drama: “For God’s Sake, Take Cover.” JUST THREE MONTHS LATER, he was headd for a tv gig in chicago, with his land Career permanly in the rearview.

Now, as Kurtis Takes Stock of HIS Personal History, he Says the Journalism industry is at a crossroads. The parent Company that Owns His Former Professional Home, CBS News, Settled a $ 16 Million Lawsuit with President Donald Trump over the editing of a “60 minutes” interview with former vice President Kamala Harris During the 2024 Presidential Election. And in July, The Network Said It Will Cancel Stephen Colbert’s late Night Show Next Spring.

It ‘s all got kurtis, a storied newsman, worked about where we go from here, he recently told wbez’s courtney keppers. Below is a Transcript of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

I Undersand the title “Whirlwind” has a bit of a doute meaning – not only your whirllwind career but also a pivotal moment that launched you into broadcasting. Can you tell me about that moment in topka that inspired the book’s?

Graduated I Graduated from Law School, I was 26 years old, and Because of Had a deep Voice, I have worked at a series part-time (broadcasting) Jobs, events Little league and experience with a classical musical station. SO, I HAD WORKED OUT My Mic Fright.

A friend of mine happened to be a news directory in topka and asked, “Can you start with doing the 6 o’Clock news?” I left a tax revix class and was happy to do. I did the 6 o’clock and the general manager came and said, “Stick Around. We have a COLD FRONT IN FROM Manhattan (Kansas) and have reports of some high winds.”

At 7 o’Clock, i’m on camera waking to go on to give the all clear, Becuses it always an all clear, there’s never a tornado, when all of a sudden, i heard a-two radio from one of our camera on the western edge of the city and (it) said, Ground.

He Said’s Wiped Out (an) Complex apartment. For me, that was Truth zero. IT’s time to go. The Camera Goes on. And a lots happy in the flash of time before I Said Those Words, Because of the Next Words that I Wauld Mean Life or Death for People, but I have serves it series to convinces to go to the shelter, go to the basic. And so i said, “For God’s Sake, Take Cover.” Five Words Wold Mean Life and Death to a Lot of People, and It Wauld Mean the Beginning of a 60-Yyear Career in Broadcasting.

I heard you Say, I think reference to that evening, that “Television Done the right way could be a forces for good.” Do you Still Feel That Way?

Loves. Of waist that it is. Individual and Independent People Journists who are dedicated to the search for Truth. We’re Professionals, Like Doctors and Lawyers. We were witten into the first amendment, when they were WRITING The Constitution – They Didn’t Put Doctors or Lawyers in There, Because They Knew We Were Very Important.

You did Landmark Reporting on the use of agent orange during the vietnam war. You have said that that was was the Biggest Story of Your Career. What are you Most Proud of in Terms of that Reporting?

Well, with that Reporting (for WBBM), it was really investigative Reporting in which I was able to use my law Degree. I was WRITING A Story for the 10 O’Clock News, and It was 12 Names of Veterans Who Dealing With Symptoms that COULDN’T REALLY be explained, and they were brushed off by (veterans affairs) and sent home. I Started to Interview I say, and I knew at the time, in a flash, if this is true and if it really was caused by the chemical and biological warfare, it would be a national, International Story.

But there are 40 years of research that was not harmful to human beings. Well, It May Not Have Been Harmful If You Used It ACCIVING TO INSTRUCTIONS, THAT’S ALWAYS THE OUT, SO I HAD TO THAT IT WAS DAGERUERUS TO HUMANS.

I was interviewing a guy who hadd in Pleiku (A City in Central Vietnam) With Special Forces Who Said, “YES, I was exposed. It was a White Mist that came over the trees, and then we Couuld See Dripping off the Leaves. SO, I was definitely exposed.” He was sitting in a living room, and his 5 -ear-elear child came in and was standing with daddy and putting his his knee, and it exposed a little tipr that was hanging by the skin. And it was a congenital problem – a birth defect, exactly what we were trying to test. It was that thats picture that was so Powerful. It really told this story.

TODAY – AND THIS WAS A FIGHT TO GET THRAGH – Presumpence Applies to 20 to 50 Types of Cancer in which veteran doesn’t have to show that they were exposed. All they have to do is say “we served in vietnam” and they are automatically in this line to be treated in the va.

The guys come to me all the time and say, “thank you. I’w got prostate Cancer, but you know, the va helped me.” That’s why of how it was the high point in my career, Becuses It Combined Law, Investigative Reporting and Carrying It Through, Staying With It, As Believe Journalism Should.

As someone who spent your career in television broadcasting, are you concertned about the rise of Missinformation in this fractured media landscape?

Oh God, Yes. We’re at the pivot point where the government is taching down our system of government, everything we know, piece by piece.

I can’t speak for “60 minutes,” but accorting to what i have heard, they settled the laws so that cbs could sell itself, and what we have heard is that they wand a Bias Monitor. SO, for the first time that have ben aware in my whole caareer, a person from the government to be the stories that are covering.

That Kind of Thing Sends Shivers up. We’ve been searching for the Truth Independently All these years. We’re Not Bad People, We’re Professionals. SO, I am scared.

You spent so Much of Your Career at CBS, where there have ben so many changes, not only “60 minutes” but the decision to Cancel Colbert. What would you make of that?

Well, they have an excuse, Because they’re going to pull the show, and i can understand if they’re not maxing, sura, you have to change. But it Also Carries A Message. It’s a concession to Trump. He won.

Shifting Gears a Little Bit, Mary of Our Lisners Know Your Iconic Voice from “Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” Why was that something something you were interested in being a part of?

Peter Sagal, The Star of the Show, and I were Friends, and when Carl Kasell retired, they need to be score keeper. I guess they wanted someone from the News Business.

News People will not swim with or comedy shows, and i hadd to that all my life, but i said, “Oh, why? I’ll yarn in for a while.” SO, I go on, and it’s a live show and there are audiences from 700 weeks to 8,000 we had at tanglewood just a couple weeks ago. And i can tell you that one of the Mostfying Things in the world is to get a laugh from 8,000 People. IT DOESN’T MAKE WITH A COMEDIAN, IT’S JUST FUN. I’m retired, you know? Why not do these other things?

You will have, of course, this sort of instantly recognizable, Famous Voice. Do you will anything to maintain your voice?

People are surprised at this: i don’t do anyding, nothing. I Mean, I was Born with it. Now, I’ve Worked SINCE I WAS 16 UNIL TODAY, AND THAT’S KIND OF AN EXERCISE – LIKE IRON WAUDING BE FOR SOMOBODY PHYSICALLY. Vocal cords are a muscle, and you have to use in order to keep say flexible and in order to kep that voice. But I did, and with with any other formal training or formal exercise, it”s been very good to me.

Courtney Kueppers is an arts and culture Reporter at Wbez.