Michael_King_(commentator)

Michael King (commentator)

Michael King (commentator)

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Michael Howard King (born December 18, 1962)[1][2] is an American commentator, columnist and Murrow Award-winning & Emmy Award-winning television producer.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Gary, Indiana, King graduated from Roosevelt High School in Gary in 1980.[2] King attended Howard University and Purdue University and was a student journalist for the Purdue Exponent.[2] His uncle Emery King was a reporter for NBC News.[1]

Career

While still a high school student, King began his first media job in August 1979 as a weekend DJ for Gary radio station WLTH.[3][4][5] King worked at various other radio stations in Northern Indiana and the Washington metropolitan area in the 1980s.[5]

King moved to the Atlanta metropolitan area in 1994, becoming station manager for WIGO (later WALR), a talk radio station targeting black Atlanta listeners.[6][7][8] At WIGO, King launched new programming in January 1995 such as Georgia Live, a daily interview show distributed to seven other stations in Georgia and South Carolina.[9] Beginning with the 1995 All-Star Game, WIGO began carrying NBA Radio Network game broadcasts in February 1995.[10]

Joining black conservative organization Project 21 in 1996, King wrote commentaries for Project 21 from 1998 to 2005.[11][5][12] In one 1999 commentary for Project 21, King opposed lowering academic standards for NCAA student-athletes on the grounds that "the primary purpose for college was to get an education, not to act as a farm system for the NBA."[11][13]

Joining CNN Interactive in 1997, King was part of the web development team that launched CNNSI.com, the website for CNN Sports Illustrated, later that year.[5]

At the end of the 1990s, King was a weekend morning news anchor for WGST.[14]

In September 2005, King became a producer and reporter with WXIA-TV Atlanta.[5]

In 2021, King moved from WXIA to Atlanta television station WUPA as a digital media strategist.[15]

Awards and recognition

At WXIA, King was part of WXIA's news production team that won the 2011 Southeast Emmy Award for News Programming Excellence (Category 1A) and the 11Alive.com website team that won a 2015 regional RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Website.[16][17]

In 2016, King won the Edward R. Murrow Award for Investigative Reporting among large market TV stations. This award was for an in-depth report on WXIA about the American Legislative Exchange Council, "Smart ALEC: The Backroom Where Laws Are Born".[1][18][19]

Personal life

King lives in Mableton, Georgia.[20][21]

References

  1. [1]
    Woodson-Wray, Carmen (2016-08-11). "Gary native Michael King wins Investigative Reporting Award". Chicago Crusader. Archived from the original on August 12, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  2. [2]
    "Michael King". Northwest Indiana Times. March 13, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  3. [3]
    King, Michael [@mhking] (August 20, 2018). "Today's #NationalRadioDay - and 39 years ago this week, I dropped a needle on an #EltonJohn record and popped open a mic for the first time professionally as a DJ & radio broadcaster on the old #WLTH Radio in my hometown of #GaryIndiana" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  4. [4]
    King, Michael [@mhking] (November 4, 2010). "Yeah -- in '79, I did fill-in work at WLTH and was the regular Sat/Sun guy (it was my senior year of H.S.)" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  5. [5]
    "Gannett Co. Inc., WXIA-TV, Mr. Michael King, Web Site, Digital Executive Producer" (PDF). 2013 Pitching Profiles for TV Producers: Media Contacts. Chicago: Cision Inc. 2013. p. 10. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  6. [6]
    King, Michael. "Hi, I'm Michael King..." Geocities. Archived from the original on December 1, 2001. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  7. [7]
    King, Michael [@mhking] (January 28, 2022). "Too many to count. Here in Atlanta? I started on the old WIGO, but I've been on WALR, WGST, and several others..." (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  8. [8]
    DeVault, Russ (January 2, 1995). "Ralph From Ben Hill is glad to be back in a familiar neighborhood". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. B11. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via NewsLibrary.
  9. [9]
    DeVault, Russ (January 9, 1995). "'Georgia Live,' an interview show, among changes in lineup at WIGO". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. D9. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  10. [10]
    Rogers, Prentis (February 19, 1995). "The sons also rise, at least in CBS's dreams". The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. p. E2. Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via NewsLibrary.
  11. [11]
    Leininger, Kevin (April 10, 2004). "It's time for rational talk about NCAA academic standards". The News-Sentinel. Fort Wayne, Indiana. Archived from the original on May 3, 2004. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  12. [12]
    "Project 21 New Visions Commentary Editorials". Project 21. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  13. [13]
    King, Michael (April 1999). "Court Shoots an Air Ball on NCAA Academic Standards". Project 21. Archived from the original on October 10, 2017. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  14. [14]
    King, Michael [@mhking] (February 10, 2022). "I did news on his Atlanta affiliate, WGST, on Saturday and Sunday mornings in the late 90s; he went off at 6 am, I started at 6" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  15. [15]
    King, Michael [@mhking] (November 5, 2021). "I'm excited to announce that that I'm joining the team at @ATLCW & CBS Television Stations as Digital Media Strategist! Let's make some good TV and have fun!" (Tweet). Retrieved March 4, 2023 – via Twitter.
  16. [16]
    "Best Newscast, Best Website among 11Alive's 6 Murrow Awards". WXIA. April 23, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  17. [17]
    "2011 EMMY Awards Nominees" (PDF). National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Southeast. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 26, 2011. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  18. [18]
    "2016 Edward R. Murrow Awards". Radio-Television Digital News Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  19. [19]
    Keefe, Brendan; King, Michael (May 21, 2015). "Legislators and corporate lobbyists meet in secret at Georgia resort". WXIA. Archived from the original on May 21, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  20. [20]
    "Michael King". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  21. [21]
    "Celebrate slavery? I don't think so!". Blogspot. Archived from the original on November 26, 2004. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
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