ILHS Alumnus Wins Emmy

ILHS Alumnus Wins Emmy
Posted on 09/17/2015
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It’s the biggest weekend of the year for primetime television lovers with the 67th Emmy Awards airing Sunday night at 8 pm. Meantime, one Indian Lake alumnus is celebrating winning his own recent Emmy.

2008 Indian Lake graduate Alex King is a news producer at WHIO Channel 7 in Dayton. In a ceremony earlier this summer in Lexington, Kentucky, King and his team for the noon and 6 pm newscasts took home the Ohio Valley Regional Emmy for Best Daytime or Weekend Newscast.

“We freaked out! I was really nervous and I had prepped myself because I didn’t want to be disappointed. It is an honor to be nominated, so I told myself we’re not going to win. Then we heard our names called and I couldn’t talk!”

The team won the Emmy for their noon news coverage the day after a small tornado hit Cedarville, Ohio, in the spring of 2014.

Looking back, King said they got lucky that everything with the production went right during the show. “We had 3 reporters and a meteorologist on the scene. We had every angle possible covered. We did a good job of showcasing our best video and the best elements.”

During the newscast there was also breaking news with a bomb threat at a Dayton area school. “Everything was going on everywhere…when it rains it pours!” said King, referring to the news business.

King studied Journalism at Webster University in St. Louis, Missouri, before coming back to Ohio.  He says his education at Indian Lake prepared him for a successful future. “News producing is all about grammar and writing. I have to be able to write quickly with proper grammar and pull out the interesting nugget of a story. The writing and English classes at Indian Lake gave me the foundation I need to do this job. “

His advice to Indian Lake students is also rooted in newsroom knowledge, “My job is completely deadline-based, constantly managing your time, that’s the reality. I would tell students don’t wait until the last minute to think about your grades and your future!”

King is currently the weekend 6 and 11 pm news producer at WHIO in Dayton. His mother, Joyce King, is the long-time Chorale, Choir and Musical Director and Indian Lake High and Middle Schools.