Documentary producer and investigative reporter Bill Kurtis is celebrating his 50th anniversary in broadcast media. Best known today as the narrator of the 2004 comedy film Anchorman: the Legend of Ron Burgundy and as the "Legendary Anchorman" voice of radio quiz show Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, Kurtis has won Emmy and Peabody awards for his coverage of Vietnam, Charles Manson, and the Chicago Seven trial.
In 1966, he left a growing law practice to join a news team in Kansas, and in the years since has helped bring the cause of Agent Orange redress to the attention of the Veterans Administration and secured a presidential pardon for war propandist Iva "Tokyo Rose" Toguri.
S.W. Conser sits down with Mr Kurtis to discuss the role of broadcast media in education, the exposés of government surveillance by Edward Snowden and Wikileaks, and the challenges and opportunities for investigative reporting in the digital age.
- KBOO