Photo: Alicia Cho Photography (used with permission)
Jo Kwon's dreams of being the next leading news anchor and reporter began at the age of five. She remembers sitting on the couch with her parents watching the news and thinking with the encouragement of her parents, "That's what I want to do when I grow up." That's where it all began. Every book report or project turned into a pseudo-news report, she played the anchor/reporter and the class was her audience. (Her Dad's VHS camera got a lot of use, filming all those "newscasts").
She landed her first professional job in college. She got a paid internship writing for a paper in Cambria, California. While she loved it, after a year she decided print just wasn't her thing. She moved on to her true love, broadcast journalism. She became anchor, reporter, and Assistant News Director for her campuses' first, daily newscast, CPTV, which broadcast on local cable. After picking up several internships at local television affiliates, she became a Field Producer and Weekend Producer at a KCOY/KKFX (CBS/FOX affiliate) in Santa Maria, CA. She then moved on to KVTA in Ventura, where she was the Morning Anchor and Reporter. After that, she went online. She was the VJ/Host and Supervising Producer of 20th Century Fox's "Atomic News". She created, produced, wrote, and hosted the daily online news show aimed at young adults. When that project ended, the next stop was KNX 1070 Newsradio. After a few months as a News Assistant, she was promoted to Producer of Money 101 and special features. She won two Golden Mikes for her work with KNX. But her true passion is on-air work. Thanks to a mentor who truly believed in her talents, she was hired to be the General Assignment Reporter at KABC 790. From there, she was hired at KFI AM 640 as a reporter and later added anchoring to her duties. She stepped away from the radio when she was hired to report on television for CBS2/KCAL 9 in Los Angeles. She was then recruited to be a reporter for a brand-new television network, Spectrum News 1, where she continues to work as a reporter and fill-in host and put together her first television special called “Swell Beaches”. She returned to KFI AM 640 in 2018, a place she says, “Feels like home,” to her, as an anchor and fill-in host and continues to fill in at KFI AM 640 between her TV job.
Jo is so grateful to have a career that allows her to learn something new every single day. A side note: When she's not reporting, you can often find her in the waters of the Pacific surfing until her arms can paddle no more or spending time with her love and Watson her dog.
Follow Jo on Instagram @kwonpic and Twitter @jo_kwon