Broadcasting and Cable Magazine recently named longtime KABC news anchor David Ono its 2023 Broadcaster of the Year.
For Ono, a career in journalism is more than a job. It’s a way to amplify the issues of importance to underrepresented and undercovered communities.
He currently anchors the 4 and 6pm newscasts in Los Angeles where he has worked for ABC7 since 1996. He is one of the few Asian American men currently anchoring a newscast and he’s doing it in the second largest television market in the country.
Perhaps most notable, he has devoted his own money and resources to produce documentaries on Japanese American history. His latest production is a stage show featuring a live orchestra and a choir, filmed interviews with witnesses to Japanese American contributions to the U.S. war effort during WWII and narration on stage by Ono himself.
I had the opportunity to enjoy Defining Courage when it debuted during the Asian American Journalists Association convention in Los Angeles in 2022. It’s truly a spectacle that deserves a wide audience.
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Defining Courage has since played a dozen sold out shows in multiple cities including Washington D.C, Honolulu and San Jose.
Ono is the recipient of 16 Emmys and three Edward R Murrow Awards. His documentaries include Legacy of Heart Mountain, The Power of the Picture and Japan, Surviving the Wave.
Ono this past fall went with his family to Hawaii on vacation. When he began to see dense smoke rise up, his news instincts immediately kicked in.
“We saw a plume of smoke and lost our electricity,” he said to NextTV about the Lahaina Fire. “So I loaded my daughter’s backpack with water and other supplies and started hiking toward the fire.”
He ended up with some of the first footage from the fire scene, and he hiked 14 miles to get it while interrupting his vacation.
Ono is admired by his peers and bosses alike for the way he handles breaking news.
“David carries us through untested waters,” said Cheryl Fair, KABC president and general manager. “David puts things in context, explaining them in a way that we can feel like we’re part of what’s happening and that we understand what’s going on.”
Besides a nearly 30-year career at KABC, he has also worked in Sacramento, CA; Dallas, TX; El Paso, TX; and Midland/Odessa, TX.
The Los Angeles Press Club recently recognized him with its Joseph M Quinn Award for Lifetime Achievement.
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