Steve Heimel
News Reporter and Talk of Alaska Host
Education:
Art Academy of Cincinnati, Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Most of what I learned in radio I got from people I worked with or for.
Professional background:
I have always been a practicing artist, but have always made my living in various sorts of communication media. I started in radio as a disc jockey on WFRM in Coudersport, Pennsylvania in 1961. I worked in the independent film-making industry in New York in the late sixties. I was a broadcast personality in Philadelphia and Houston, among other cities. I was the main consultant for creating WVMR in Pocahontas County, West Virginia. My first job in Alaska was reporting news for KTNX. I moved to APRN in 1984, starting as the network’s Anchorage reporter. I have been a news trainer for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the NPR Training Channel.
Awards:
My first journalism award was the Golden Quill from the Pittsburgh Press Club for a documentary I produced with Johanna Eurich about attempts to cover up a water pollution incident in 1979. A number of others followed.
Why I became a journalist:
Small market DJ’s tend to have to do some news reporting, and those sorts of skills run in my family. In 1972 when I was working at KILT-FM in Houston, the evening news job on the AM station came open and I got it and was successful.
Why I got into public broadcasting:
I always thought there was potential there. As a child I listened to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and the science programs put together by the Cooperative Extension office at Penn State University. Later I discovered Pacifica Foundation stations in New York and Houston. I got pretty disgusted with KILT when my bosses repeatedly ordered me not to talk about Richard Nixon. I thought public broadcasting might be a better option and moved over to Pacifica. I have mostly worked for public broadcasting since then.
How I ended up at APTI:
Johanna and I were making our living as independent producers in rural West Virginia in 1982 when NPR had a financial crisis, which destabilized our sales. We sought employment in Alaska, where public broadcasting was more financially healthy. Johanna became News Director at KSKA. I applied for a job at APRN when openings came up. After a number of twists and turns, the organizations merged.
Contact:
sheimel (at) alaskapublic (dot) org
907.550.8454
