10 Questions with ... Alex Stone

BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:

I started at 12 years old on a teen program at KSRO in Santa Rosa. From there I was able to help out the morning show and later I became a news reporter for the station while in high school. In college I was a morning reporter and weekend morning news anchor at KOA in Denver. I graduated from college in 2003 and the next year joined ABC where I’ve been for the past 15 years loving every minute of it.

1. You started in radio really young. What appealed to you about radio and how did you decide on focusing on radio news as a career?

I’ve been fascinated by news forever. When I was six years old my family took a trip to Atlanta and we toured CNN. I still remember that being the point when I knew news reporting was pretty incredible. My parents tell the story about ever since that moment everything in my life revolved around news. I was focused on TV news and developed a relationship with the GM at KTVU in the San Francisco Bay Area. He would allow me to come down and sit in on their news broadcasts watching icons in Bay Area news like Dennis Richmond, Elaine Corral, Leslie Griffith and others do newscasts from time to time. I was hooked. Then when I was 12 our junior high school got a flyer that the local radio station, KSRO in Santa Rosa, was looking for teens for a new show they were starting. It was called “Teens on Air.” Each week we did a show with a group of local kids. That went away after about a year and the morning host at the station, Jim Grady, asked if I wanted to hang out in the mornings and help him out. Jim was the king of Santa Rosa radio. I made a lot of coffee and breakfast runs for Jim. During that time he also let me be on the air which was incredible at 13 or 14 years old. Once I was 16 they gave me keys to the news van and I was up day and night chasing what I heard on the police scanner. I would report for the morning show, go to school, and then anchor in the afternoon until I headed off to college in Colorado and worked for KOA. Radio has afforded me some incredible opportunities. It allowed me to get into broadcasting and has allowed me to have a great 27 year career so far. I’ve always loved the immediacy of radio. That I can get on a scene and get on the air in an instant. And the listener on the other end can be impacted by those reports. If it’s a wildfire or other disaster, they aren’t watching TV while evacuating. They are looking for information to help them get out and understand what’s going on. Radio can do that.

2. You've covered some of the biggest stories of the last several decades. Of all the stories you've covered, what was the most memorable for you and why? (Yeah, pick one. I know, it's hard!)

It is hard to pick. There are many I will never forget. Being in Las Vegas the night of the mass shooting there and watching people stream out bloody with their clothing ripped off. Being in Thailand covering the tsunami. The wildfires that ravaged my hometown in 2017 destroying much of what I knew. But the one that I always go back to is Hurricane Katrina. For those weeks that we lived on the streets in New Orleans. When there was no running water. When the only lights at night were red and blue police lights. The sounds of gunfire at night. It was shocking to see an American city crumble like that. I will always remember a little boy – maybe 4 or 5 – who came up to me pleading for food. We didn’t have any either. Or the bodies in the streets. And that moment that the military came rolling in and everything changed. Covering that story was like none other. We were dirty. We didn’t shower for two weeks. But it was important to get the message out to the world of what was unfolding. In the early stages it wasn’t being told and the country didn’t understand just how bad it was until the message really got out.

3. Aspiring journalists get conflicting advice when it comes to education; some are told to skip communications majors in college and j-school and just go get experience on the job, while others point to the value of the education and networking that come with the degree. You got a communications degree while also getting experience at KOA -- what path would you tell newcomers to take and why?

That’s a hard one. Real life work gave me the best experience. Jerry Bell and Kathy Walker at KOA let me do incredible things. I owe them so much. They are like family. I think it is important to get a degree. Maybe polysci or some other major would be beneficial. But still most of the interns coming to our ABC News LA Bureau are coming in because they are in journalism school at USC or somewhere else. And often those internships go on to become staff jobs at ABC. So it definitely helps you get in the door. But most of what I learned was on the streets doing it rather than in a classroom. There are basics that you need from instructors but you learn how to make it work when you’re doing it.

4. In the years since you started in radio news, how has the job changed? What do you have to do now that wasn't the case back then? What skills have you had to acquire along the way to keep up?

There have been natural changes to the business. At one time it was all about the on air radio product and not much else. As long as you were on the newscast you had done your job. The newscast is still important along with station hits and live anchored breaking news coverage but there’s so much more now. We’re often shooting video for multiple platforms, on camera doing reports, gathering editorial information for the many ABC platforms, writing stories for digital, and there are podcasts. ABC is extremely invested in podcasts and the future of podcasting. We have our daily podcast “Start Here” which I’ve been lucky enough to fill in host a few times recently. It really is an important new avenue to reach listeners. Through all of the ways that we’re getting it out there it’s about reaching the audience in every way possible.

5. You cover an incredibly wide range of stories, from wildfires and politics to celebrity stuff, CES, and all sorts of features. If you were to be required to specialize, which category would you pick? What stories are your favorite kind to cover?

I still really love what I would call the 911 beat. Luckily ABC has given me the opportunity become the point person on law enforcement and some transportation stories in the West for the network’s editorial coverage covering all platforms. That really is my beat for the network. So I get to focus on developing relationships and often being the one making calls to law enforcement or officials for the LA Bureau when a story is breaking. It’s really important for me to focus on field reporting and that breaking news coverage. My parents have always said if I wasn’t a reporter they thought I would have been a cop or pilot. Both fascinate me. I have so much respect for what law enforcement and pilots do. And of course wildfires are always exciting to cover. And because of the laws in California allowing reporters essentially unfettered access to fires we really getting into some interesting situations sometimes.

6. Who's the best interview you've done? And who among those you haven't yet interviewed would you most like to get?

Oh, wow, that’s a tough one too. There have been the celebrities and politicians. But the best ones are often regular folks. The real life stories. The mom who lost her son in battle or the family whose home was saved by firefighters. They are often the best interviews. You know, the one person I’ve always wanted to just have a chat with is Captain Sully. As an aviation nut, his poise during that harrowing situation captivates me. His steady, calm voice on those air traffic control recordings. Not to mention my wife and I kind of credit him for us getting together because we were able to meet up really for the first time when I was in Northern California covering Captain Sully’s homecoming ceremony. Now 10+ years later we have a family. I’ve read his book, seen the movie, visited his plane on display in Charlotte, and I anchored our network coverage the day he landed that plane on the Hudson but I’ve never had the chance to interview him.

7. Who are your influences, mentors, and/or inspirations in the business?

There have been so many. It started with Kevin O’Brien, who was the GM/VP at KTVU who allowed me to bug him constantly as a 10 year old asking questions about TV news and would let my parents and me come down and watch Mornings on 2 and the 10’Clock News being done live in studio. To then Jim Grady at KSRO. What longtime radio morning man is letting a 13 year old wanna be broadcaster come in and watch him morning after morning? I learned so much from Jim. What a kind man. I miss him every single day. Then there was Brian Hudson, the ND at KSRO who allowed me to field report at 16. And then Jerry Bell and Kathy Walker at KOA. They allowed this 18 year old college kid to come in to a massive station and start reporting on the 50-thousand watt blowtorch of the Rockies. That really was my home. My KOA years were those special college years where I made some of my best friends to this day. We weren’t working for the money at that point in our lives. We were working for the love of broadcasting and journalism.

8. Of what are you most proud?

Well, my family. Especially after having children family became the focus of my life. I love reporting, don’t get me wrong, but that definitely puts some things into perspective. Watching our 7 and 4 year old grow up. But workwise, probably back to Hurricane Katrina. I think our ABC News team did some phenomenal work on that story. And we went back to New Orleans and elsewhere in the Gulf numerous times to do follow up stories. We’ve done tons of big stories but that’s one that I think we made a real impact on. Emotionally, the Las Vegas massacre gets me. People jumping in the back of my rental car asking to get them out of there. Often we show up to stories after they’re over. That one was unfolding around us. But then there are the lighter, fun stories we get to cover. It’s not all doom and gloom. I’ve done the Olympics in Beijing, London, Vancouver, and South Korea… Those are always fun. And after almost a month of work on each Olympics you’ve always got to be proud when it’s over.

9. Fill in the blank: I can't make it through the day without _____________.

...a hug from the family. I know that sounds corny. I really, really love being in the field. Since my years at KSRO I’ve never enjoyed anchoring or being in the studio. People ask if I’d rather be anchoring. Heck no. I get bored sitting at a desk. But that said, having kids, it is harder to be on the road. I’ve come to love that hug from my wife and children. Often breaking news happens and we have to miss coming home that night because we’re out on a story or traveling. So those special moments with the family are so important to me these days.

10. What's the most important lesson you've learned in your career?

Just to be kind. There are reporters out there we all see who forget that with people they’re interviewing or those they’re dealing with out in the field. I mean, we’re not doing brain surgery so go out there, do the best job you can do, kick ass on the air, and then move onto the next story. But smile and be nice.