R.I.P.: Warren Wilson, L-A TV Newscaster

Warren Wilson (1934-2024)

Los Angeles television newscaster Warren Wilson, known for smashing racial barriers and arranging the safe surrender of almost two dozen fugitives to police, died on Friday at age 90 in Oxnard, according to The LATimes.

Wilson retired from KTLA in 2005 after a four-decade career covering some of the biggest stories in L.A. history — the Watts riots, the Charles Manson killings, the assassination of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and the North Hollywood Bank of America shootout. Wilson landed the first television interview with Rodney King in jail and the first sit-down interview with O.J. Simpson after he was acquitted of murder.

“His demeanor on the air as an iconic television journalist was just as authentic as he was a father, unsensational, sincere, and a calm, eloquent voice,” son Stanley Wilson said in a statement on his father’s passing.

Wilson, the son of North Carolina sharecroppers, became one of the first Black reporters on air in Los Angeles in 1969. He worked for KNBC and the NBC network news for 15 years before joining KTLA in 1984.

During his trailblazing career, Wilson collected six L.A.-area Emmy awards as well as accolades from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Los Angeles Press Club, the California Legislature, the American Civil Liberties Union, the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, the Los Angeles City Council and the Los Angeles Police Department.

Striving continually to be a voice for the Black community, Wilson played a vital role in exposing police brutality through his coverage of the 1965 and 1992 riots. Because of the deep trust he established in communities of color, he was able to serve as an intermediary in arranging the the surrender of 22 fugitives wanted by law enforcement.

While some people criticized Wilson for becoming too personally involved in criminal cases, Wilson always stood by his approach and argued that it saved lives.

The journalist said he inherited his strong moral compass, including a deep-seated sense of equality, from his father, who was once was once assaulted by members of the Ku Klux Klan in North Carolina