Eric Johnson (BA 84) has enjoyed a career of 27 years (and counting¦) as a television news anchor, sports director and news and feature reporter at various Northwest television stations, including the last 20 years at KOMO-TV in Seattle.
Along the way, he has picked up nearly 30 regional Emmy awards and three Radio Television Digital News Association Edward R. Murrow Awards for excellence.
Years ago, on a slow sports day in Portland, Eric sent a videographer to a T-ball game, saying, “See if something funny happens.”
Something funny DID happen, and it launched a 22-year franchise called Eric’s Little Heroes, which has won numerous awards and airs to this day in Seattle. It has been his calling card into the living rooms of grandparents, parents and children alike.
During his tenure at KOMO, Eric’s personal highlights have included the Mariners magical playoff run in 1995, the Seahawks Super Bowl in 2005 and, best of all, two trips to the Rose Bowl with the Cougar football team.
But his greatest passion is the craft of telling stories, reaching into lives of people around him and pulling out tales of courage and honor and simple joy. He says it’s what keeps him awake at night still: that next story, the one that touches hearts and lifts spirits, and might even have made Murrow himself proud.