Per an X post from her fellow KOMO reporter Ryan SImms, Karina Vargas is heading for California. No word on a new job as yet. She came to KOMO three years ago this month from a station in South Texas, so this looks like a standard contract expiration on either side. Hannah Knowles just left last month and new anchor-reporter Natalie Fahmy replaces her. KOMO also lost Denise Whitaker to Seattle radio in June and then reporter Tyler Cunningham recently joined fom Colorado. BTW weekender Lee Stoll left just before the new news boss came aboard. Lots of churning inside the revolving door. Can't tell the players without a scorecard. Certainly makes you wonder what's going on behind the scenes and Sinclair is now in 'restructuring' mode. Hmmmm
Best of luck to Karina on her future endeavors.
ReplyDeleteLots of people come to work in Seattle to see what it’s like, as they’ve read about it or seen it on tv, and they want to try it out. Our Seattle newsrooms are full of producers and reporters from elsewhere. They stay for a contract or two, and unless they settle down with a partner here, they usually end up “going back home.” The cost of living and rain get to many, and family ties to other cities pull them away again.
ReplyDeleteThat does seem to be the case for many TV personalities these days. That, and Seattle isn't part of the top tier of the TV news career ladder for most anymore.
DeleteAnother short-term reporter departs. Which begs the question: who is the longest-tenured Seattle TV reporter currently on air? I’d guess Deborah Horne of KIRO, who started somewhere around 1990.
ReplyDeleteAgreed, Ms. Horne ince 1991. Eric Wilkinson of KING has about 28 years.
ReplyDeleteWhen did Wikinson join KING? I always had the impression he arrived around 2005-2006. Sounds like my impression is not accurate.
DeleteAccording to linkedin.com it was 1998 per his bio
DeleteWow! He's been here a lot longer than I thought! Very impressive!
DeleteNo KOMO reports seem to go back that far, and KCPQ didn’t go on air until 1997 or so. Guess that makes Deborah the longevity champ. Amazing tenure and always seems to be engaged and into her work.
ReplyDeleteIndeed she is. Deborah is always a welcome sight on our screens.
DeleteChris Ingalls also early 1990s, although an investigative reporter today he started as a GA street guy. I really value these experienced pros and don’t think we will see the likes of them again given the business today.
ReplyDeleteI share your sentiment. Institutional knowledge is such an important asset for newsrooms to have, and many don't have reporters who have been there long enough to have much in the way of that. We are fortunate here in Seattle that we still have a few legacy reporters from the 1990s left on our screens. We are also fortunate that we have some personalities who could make up a new class of legacy reporters, like KOMO's Molly Shen and Michelle Esteban (I know they both anchor as well, but they still file regular reports).
DeleteGood catch, and his colleague Susannah Frame is a also a 30-year vet at KING. But, yes, not day to day GA like Horne.
ReplyDeleteSafe to say that even as we are in 2025 that the queen of KING, Jean Enersen still holds the record for the longest-tenured Seattle TV journalist at 48 years from when she joined in 1968 to her retirement in 2016. I don't think we're ever going to see that number broken anytime soon or at least in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteI get the same feeling. Things are changing in this industry, and lengthy tenures for top taleht are one of many things that are dissapearing.
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