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Mark Curtis (broadcaster)
Encyclopedia
Mark Corrigan Curtis is a well-known American TV journalist, author and political analyst. In January 2009, Curtis published his first book; a first-person account of the historic 2008 Presidential campaign. “Age of Obama: A Reporter’s Journey with Clinton, McCain and Obama in the Making of the President 2008” was released by Nimble Books, LLC on Inauguration Day. In 2010, the book won an International Book Award in the Current Events: Political/Social category and was a finalist in the Non-Fiction Narrative category. He is currently a weekday morning news co-anchor and Chief Political Reporter for WLNE-TV
, the ABC
affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island
. Previously, he was host of Comcast
Newsmakers on Channel 57 throughout the San Francisco Bay Area
.
/Cox Broadcasting
in Oakland, California
. Curtis served as Chief Washington, DC Correspondent from 1993 to 1999; Morning News co-anchor from 1999 to 2007; and as a freelance reporter and political analyst, through the balance of the 2008 campaign
as he traveled from Iowa
and New Hampshire
in January, through the entire primary season ending in South Dakota
and Montana
in June. He also covered both political conventions for KTVU. Curtis is also a regular political contributor on KGO-AM 810
in San Francisco; KTXL-TV Fox 40 News
in Sacramento
; KTLA-TV5
in Los Angeles
. He also has contributed occasionally on KQED-TV 9, KPIX-TV5
and KRON-TV4
in San Francisco.
Curtis is an occasional newspaper reporter, covering the Inauguration in Washington, DC for the Danville Weekly and Pleasanton Weekly in California
, as well as writing for his own blog at MarkCurtisMedia.com.
Throughout the summer of 2011, Curtis took part in a weekly cooking segment on WLNE's Good Morning Providence newscast with meteorologist Steve Cascione
and co-anchor Doreen Scanlon, titled the Curtis/Cascione Cook-Off.
Prior to moving to California, Curtis was a TV Correspondent in Washington, DC for all stations owned by Cox Broadcasting, including WSB
Atlanta, WSOC
Charlotte
, WFTV
Orlando
, KIRO
Seattle, WPXI
Pittsburgh, WHIO
Dayton
, WKBD Detroit, and KFOX
in El Paso
. His year-long coverage of the Impeachment of President Bill Clinton
, earned him a promotion to KTVU as co-anchor of the Morning News.
Curtis is one of a select group of national reporters who have spent time working in Congress. He served as a Legislative Aide and Congressional Fellow through the American Political Science Association
, in the offices of Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
and Sen. Herb Kohl, (D-WI)
, 1992-93.
Curtis became a nationally known journalist in 1987, when he was at WEAR-TV 3 (ABC)
in Pensacola, Florida
. He won numerous awards for his five-years of coverage in what came to be known as the “Gulf Breeze UFO Sightings
”, with his work appearing on NBC’s
“Unsolved Mysteries
” with Robert Stack
, “A Current Affair” and in Time/Life Books.
His other broadcasting work includes stints at WRUF-AM/FM Radio
in Gainesville, Florida
; WUFT-TV5 (PBS) in Gainesville, FL and WCJB-TV 20 (ABC) in Ocala, Florida
.
. Both men now work and live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and still collaborate.
Curtis was also a professional musician in the late 1970s and early 1980, touring the Midwest “bar band” circuit with “The Strays”, “Mike and the Mysteries”, and “Fat Tuesday”. He was also employed by famed jingle writer Terry Sweet.
He got his first paid “radio” job, dispatching police and fire calls for the Village of Elm Grove, Wisconsin
. At the age of 19, he became a disc jockey
and later Program Director for WMUR-AM radio at Marquette University
.
(1986); he is currently working on his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, California
. He has guest lectured at many universities.
WLNE-TV
WLNE-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station for Rhode Island and the South Coast of Massachusetts. It is licensed to New Bedford, Massachusetts, but is headquartered in and operates from studios at 10 Orms Street in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. It is one of two major Rhode Island...
, the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
affiliate in Providence, Rhode Island
Providence, Rhode Island
Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region...
. Previously, he was host of Comcast
Comcast
Comcast Corporation is the largest cable operator, home Internet service provider, and fourth largest home telephone service provider in the United States, providing cable television, broadband Internet, and telephone service to both residential and commercial customers in 39 states and the...
Newsmakers on Channel 57 throughout the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...
.
Career
Mark Curtis is perhaps best known for the 15 years he spent with KTVU-TV 2KTVU
KTVU, virtual channel 2 , is the Fox-affiliated television station serving the San Francisco Bay Area. Licensed to Oakland, California, the station has been owned by Atlanta-based Cox Enterprises since 1964, making it the largest Fox affiliate by market size that is not owned and operated by the...
/Cox Broadcasting
Cox Enterprises
Cox Enterprises is the successor to the publishing company founded in Dayton, Ohio, United States, by James Middleton Cox, who began with the Dayton Daily News. He was the Democratic candidate for the President of the United States in the election of 1920...
in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
. Curtis served as Chief Washington, DC Correspondent from 1993 to 1999; Morning News co-anchor from 1999 to 2007; and as a freelance reporter and political analyst, through the balance of the 2008 campaign
United States presidential election, 2008
The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365...
as he traveled from Iowa
Iowa
Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...
and New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
in January, through the entire primary season ending in South Dakota
South Dakota
South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...
and Montana
Montana
Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...
in June. He also covered both political conventions for KTVU. Curtis is also a regular political contributor on KGO-AM 810
KGO (AM)
KGO is a news/talk-format radio station radio with offices and studios in San Francisco, California. Unlike most other American news/talk stations, KGO originates nearly all of its own programming locally. Since 1978, KGO radio has received Arbitron's number-one ranking in the Bay Area...
in San Francisco; KTXL-TV Fox 40 News
KTXL
KTXL, channel 40, is a Fox Broadcasting Company-affiliated television station in Sacramento, California, owned by the Tribune Company. Its studios and offices are located in South Sacramento, and its transmitter is near Walnut Grove, California.-History:...
in Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
; KTLA-TV5
KTLA
KTLA, virtual channel 5, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, USA. Owned by the Tribune Company, KTLA is an affiliate of the CW Television Network. KTLA's studios are on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, and its transmitter is located atop Mount Wilson...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. He also has contributed occasionally on KQED-TV 9, KPIX-TV5
KPIX-TV
KPIX-TV is the CBS owned and operated television station in San Francisco, California. Through its parent company CBS Corporation, KPIX is co-owned with The CW affiliate KBCW-TV ....
and KRON-TV4
KRON-TV
KRON-TV, virtual channel 4 , is a television station in San Francisco, California, serving as the Bay Area affiliate of the MyNetworkTV programming service; the station is owned by Young Broadcasting...
in San Francisco.
Curtis is an occasional newspaper reporter, covering the Inauguration in Washington, DC for the Danville Weekly and Pleasanton Weekly in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, as well as writing for his own blog at MarkCurtisMedia.com.
Throughout the summer of 2011, Curtis took part in a weekly cooking segment on WLNE's Good Morning Providence newscast with meteorologist Steve Cascione
Steve Cascione
Steve Cascione was born in Providence, Rhode Island on November 12, 1954. After graduating from Classical High School in Providence, Cascione attended the University of Rhode Island where he graduated in 1977 with a BA degree in Geography and Meteorology. Cascione attended MIT, where he took...
and co-anchor Doreen Scanlon, titled the Curtis/Cascione Cook-Off.
Prior to moving to California, Curtis was a TV Correspondent in Washington, DC for all stations owned by Cox Broadcasting, including WSB
WSB-TV
WSB-TV, virtual channel 2.1 , is the ABC affiliate in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the flagship television station of Cox Enterprises and its Cox Media Group subsidiary...
Atlanta, WSOC
WSOC-TV
WSOC-TV is the ABC-affiliated television station in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. The station's studio is located at North Tryon and 23rd Streets, just north of Uptown Charlotte, and is shared with sister station WAXN-TV . The transmitter is located just outside...
Charlotte
CHARLOTTE
- CHARLOTTE :CHARLOTTE is an American blues-based hard rock band that formed in Los Angeles, California in 1986. Currently, they are signed to indie label, Eonian Records, under which they released their debut cd, Medusa Groove, in 2010. Notable Charlotte songs include 'Siren', 'Little Devils',...
, WFTV
WFTV
WFTV, channel 9, is the ABC-affiliated television station for Central Florida that is licensed to Orlando. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 39 from a transmitter between Bithlo and Christmas. Owned by Cox Enterprises, WFTV is sister to Independent WRDQ. The two stations...
Orlando
Orlando, Florida
Orlando is a city in the central region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat of Orange County, and the center of the Greater Orlando metropolitan area. According to the 2010 US Census, the city had a population of 238,300, making Orlando the 79th largest city in the United States...
, KIRO
KIRO-TV
KIRO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS affiliate television station in Seattle, Washington. It broadcasts on digital channel 39. The station's offices and broadcasting center are located near Seattle Center in Belltown, and its transmitter is located on Queen Anne Hill...
Seattle, WPXI
WPXI
WPXI, channel 11, is the NBC-affiliated television station for Western Pennsylvania that is licensed to Pittsburgh. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 48 from a transmitter located on the north side of Pittsburgh. Owned by Cox Enterprises, the station has studios in the...
Pittsburgh, WHIO
WHIO-TV
WHIO-TV, virtual channel 7, is the CBS-affiliated television station licensed to Dayton, Ohio, serving that state's Miami Valley area. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 41 from its transmitter on Germantown Street in western Dayton....
Dayton
Dayton
Dayton is a city in Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County, Ohio, United States.Dayton may also refer to:-United States:*Dayton, Alabama*Dayton, California, in Butte County*Dayton, Lassen County, California*Dayton, Idaho*Dayton, Indiana...
, WKBD Detroit, and KFOX
KFOX-TV
KFOX-TV is a Fox affiliated television station based in El Paso, Texas. It broadcasts its digital signal on channel 15. It is owned by Cox Enterprises. Its transmitter is located in El Paso and it is also aired on cable channel 8 and HD channel 870.-History:...
in El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
. His year-long coverage of the Impeachment of President Bill Clinton
Impeachment of Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton, President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice on December 19, 1998, but acquitted by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of...
, earned him a promotion to KTVU as co-anchor of the Morning News.
Curtis is one of a select group of national reporters who have spent time working in Congress. He served as a Legislative Aide and Congressional Fellow through the American Political Science Association
American Political Science Association
The American Political Science Association is a professional association of political science students and scholars in the United States. Founded in 1903, it publishes three academic journals...
, in the offices of Rep. Charles Schumer (D-NY)
Charles Schumer
Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer is the senior United States Senator from New York and a member of the Democratic Party. First elected in 1998, he defeated three-term Republican incumbent Al D'Amato by a margin of 55%–44%. He was easily re-elected in 2004 by a margin of 71%–24% and in 2010 by a...
and Sen. Herb Kohl, (D-WI)
Herb Kohl
Herbert H. "Herb" Kohl is the senior U.S. Senator from Wisconsin and a member of the Democratic Party. He is also a philanthropist and the owner of the Milwaukee Bucks National Basketball Association team...
, 1992-93.
Curtis became a nationally known journalist in 1987, when he was at WEAR-TV 3 (ABC)
WEAR-TV
WEAR is the ABC affiliated television station for the Mobile, Alabama/Pensacola, Florida viewing area. It is licensed to Pensacola and is one of two major commercial stations in the market that is licensed on the Florida side of the market, the other being sister station WFGX, a MyNetworkTV affiliate...
in Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola, Florida
Pensacola is the westernmost city in the Florida Panhandle and the county seat of Escambia County, Florida, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 56,255 and as of 2009, the estimated population was 53,752...
. He won numerous awards for his five-years of coverage in what came to be known as the “Gulf Breeze UFO Sightings
Gulf Breeze UFO incident
The Gulf Breeze UFO incident is a famous series of UFO sightings which occurred beginning on November 11, 1987.Gulf Breeze was a small city in Florida of approximately 6,000 at the time of a wave of UFO sightings that began in late 1987...
”, with his work appearing on NBC’s
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
“Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries
Unsolved Mysteries is an American television program, hosted by Robert Stack, from 1987 until 2002, and later by Dennis Farina, starting in 2008...
” with Robert Stack
Robert Stack
Robert Stack was an American actor. In addition to acting in more than 40 films, he was the star of the 1959-1963 ABC television series The Untouchables and later served as the host of Unsolved Mysteries.-Early life:...
, “A Current Affair” and in Time/Life Books.
His other broadcasting work includes stints at WRUF-AM/FM Radio
WRUF-FM
WRUF-FM is a radio station broadcasting a country music format. Licensed to Gainesville, Florida, USA, the station serves the Gainesville/Ocala area. The station is currently owned by the University of Florida...
in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
; WUFT-TV5 (PBS) in Gainesville, FL and WCJB-TV 20 (ABC) in Ocala, Florida
Ocala, Florida
Ocala is a city in Marion County, Florida. As of 2007, the population recorded by the U.S. Census Bureau was 53,491. It is the county seat of Marion County, and the principal city of the Ocala, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had an estimated 2007 population of 324,857.-History:Ocala...
.
Early career
Mark Curtis is a former stand-up comedian, who once worked with famed political comedian and fellow Milwaukee native Will DurstWill Durst
Will Durst is an American political satirist; he considers himself a modern mix of Mort Sahl and Will Rogers....
. Both men now work and live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and still collaborate.
Curtis was also a professional musician in the late 1970s and early 1980, touring the Midwest “bar band” circuit with “The Strays”, “Mike and the Mysteries”, and “Fat Tuesday”. He was also employed by famed jingle writer Terry Sweet.
He got his first paid “radio” job, dispatching police and fire calls for the Village of Elm Grove, Wisconsin
Elm Grove, Wisconsin
Elm Grove is a village in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,249 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Elm Grove is located at ....
. At the age of 19, he became a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
and later Program Director for WMUR-AM radio at Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
.
Biographical Information
Born: May 16, 1959, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Curtis is the son of the late Dr. William C. Curtis, M.D., a prominent Milwaukee physician and the late Mary Beth Curtis. He is the middle of seven children.Education
Curtis holds a B.A. in Broadcast Communication from Marquette University (1981); an M.A. in Mass Communication from the University of FloridaUniversity of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
(1986); he is currently working on his Ed.D. in Educational Leadership at St. Mary's College of California in Moraga, California
Moraga, California
Moraga is a suburban incorporated town located in Contra Costa County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named in honor of Joaquin Moraga, whose grandfather was José Joaquin Moraga, second in command to Juan Bautista de Anza...
. He has guest lectured at many universities.