Longtime KOMO News anchor Eric Johnson retiring

It’s the end of an era at KOMO News as it announced Tuesday that longtime anchor and reporter Eric Johnson will be retiring. His last day will be June 6, bringing to a close a decadeslong career that began with Johnson covering sports before joining KOMO as a weekend sportscaster in 1993 and then moving to the anchor chair in 2006. He would stay there for the better part of the next two decades, reporting hundreds of stories — a selection of which KOMO will air on Tuesdays up until June 4 as its way of celebrating his work.

“I feel like Huck Finn attending his own funeral,” Johnson, 62, said of the tributes he’s been getting. “It has absolutely been only a very wonderful thing to read their responses and their messages.”

KOMO news director Philip Bruce, in a news release, called Johnson “one of the best writers and storytellers in the country,” specifically praising him as being a “master at capturing special things in ordinary places and shining a light on them, with just the right words and pictures.”

This includes the recurring “Eric’s Heroes” segment in which Johnson spotlights local places and people. Without giving anything away, Johnson said he is planning to reconnect with those he has had the chance to speak with in the past and close out his run by going back down memory lane. 

“I have three or four more ‘Eric’s Heroes’ stories that I’m working on now,” Johnson said. “I’ll be visiting some of the people who have touched me and moved me the most, that I’ve learned the most from.” 

Molly Shen, Johnson’s co-anchor for the 5 o’clock news, said she couldn’t speak to who will replace him as a search is underway, but expressed how he will be missed in the newsroom. 

“It really will be different without him,” Shen said. “He has just always been this combination of a truly creative voice, somebody who’s a great storyteller, but also who is so passionate about the entire product and what all of us at KOMO put forward. He has been a mentor to every person in this room just because he is so experienced and so thoughtful.” 

Mary Nam, Johnson’s co-anchor for the 6 o’clock news, said
“Eric’s contribution to Seattle media is tremendous. He always went above and beyond his job description. He’s a born storyteller. It’s in his blood.”

When it comes to his own favorite stories that he’s worked on — a question Johnson said made him feel like he was one of the athletes he used to interview — he went back to his sports history.

“In the ‘95 Mariners’ playoff run, I was on the field there right at the end of the game when Edgar [Martinez] hit his double. I was on the field when the Cougs won to go to their first Rose Bowl in half a century,” Johnson said. “There’s those and the gut-wrenching stuff, the soul-searching stuff, the stuff that makes you ask yourself questions.”

These tougher stories were ones Johnson said partly informed why he was now retiring. 

“As I’ve gotten a little older, it rattles around in my brain a little more. That is something which I carry around more than I used to and that had an impact on my decision to retire,” Johnson said. “Whether you agree with me or don’t agree or like the story or don’t like the story, I care about each and every one of the people whose story I’ve told. That has never changed.”  

One of the stories that Johnson became most known for in his career is the polarizing “Seattle is Dying” video essay about homelessness and addiction in the city that elicited a wide range of responses and criticism. Looking back on it now, he said he was surprised at the reaction as he had previously made two other pieces, “There but for the Grace of God” and “Demon at the Door,” which addressed similar topics though didn’t get the same attention.

“Of course I’ve reflected on it. Early, when they [the video essays] first came out, there were even some moments of doubt. But, the longer things have gone on, the more I think we’ve learned about the situation, the prouder I have become of that work. I stand by every word, I don’t take back anything,” Johnson said. “It was the best I could do.” 

As for what’s next, Johnson wrote on his Facebook page that he has written something he hopes will become a novel if he can get a literary agent.

“Until it’s published, to me, it’s just a wish and a dream. But I have written something,” Johnson said.

And he said there are still more stories he wants to tell: “I love the challenge of a new thing. This new world that I haven’t been doing for 39 years. I’m a rookie again. I’m fresh, I’m eager, I’m scared. I relish that challenge.”