Michael King (commentator)

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

[edit]

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

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c 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. ^ a b c "Michael King". Northwest Indiana Times. March 13, 2016. Archived from the original on March 4, 2023. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  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. ^ King, Michael [@mhking] (February 19, 2009). "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. ^ a b c d e "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. ^ King, Michael. "Hi, I'm Michael King..." Geocities. Archived from the original on December 1, 2001. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  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. ^ 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. ^ 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. ^ 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. ^ a b 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. ^ "Project 21 New Visions Commentary Editorials". Project 21. Archived from the original on December 4, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  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. ^ 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. ^ 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. ^ "Best Newscast, Best Website among 11Alive's 6 Murrow Awards". WXIA. April 23, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  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. ^ "2016 Edward R. Murrow Awards". Radio-Television Digital News Association. Archived from the original on November 21, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  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. ^ "Michael King". LinkedIn. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
  21. ^ "Celebrate slavery? I don't think so!". Blogspot. Archived from the original on November 26, 2004. Retrieved March 4, 2023.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Michael_King_(commentator)&oldid=1213516753"