Don Harrison

This article is about the news anchorman. For the band, see Don Harrison Band.

Don Harrison (August 8, 1936 – May 2, 1998) was an anchor on CNN Headline News from 1982 until his death from renal cancer in 1998. He was a member of the original team of anchors when Headline News went on the air for the first time as "CNN2" in 1982.

Harrison, a native of Ottawa, Kansas, graduated from Ottawa High School in 1954 and attended Kansas State Teachers College, now Emporia State University.[1] He spent over three decades in the broadcast business. He began his TV career at WIBW in Topeka after previously doing radio.[2] From 1962 to 1973, he was on the staff of KCMO-TV (now KCTV) in Kansas City.[3] While there, he won an award from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for a documentary called "This Old House."[2] He anchored WBAL-TV's Action News in Baltimore in the early 1970s. He was the lead anchor at Tampa's WTSP from 1979 to 1982. For another four years, he worked for KMSP in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

Harrison was also in high demand for voice-over work, mostly for Turner properties, including TBS, Turner Sports , and CNN International. In 1987, Harrison won the CableACE award for best news anchor.[4] On January 10, 1992, Harrison came seconds away from reporting false reports of the death of George H.W. Bush after he vomited on the Japanese Prime Minister before an off-screen staff member intervened and shouted, "No! Stop!"[5][6] The tip had been given by a man in Idaho who had claimed to be Bush's physician.[7] Harrison later said, "In my heart, I knew it wasn't accurate...I just knew that reading it was wrong."[6]

In 1992, Harrison auditioned for a lead anchor position for WTSP, the position he had previously held.[8]

Harrison lost a leg due to bone cancer at age 13 and a kidney, also because of cancer, in 1993. At the time of his death, he was married to his wife Carolyn and had two sons and a daughter.[9] A previous marriage to his wife, Marilyn, ended when she died from leukemia on May 24, 1976, aged 31.[10]

  1. ^ "Don Harrison". www.usd290.org. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  2. ^ a b "Don Harrison- CNN Headline News anchor since its debut". Newspapers.com. Associated Press. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  3. ^ "New signal". The Kansas City Star. 1988-03-30. p. 32. Retrieved 2024-09-24. Don Harrison newscaster at KCTV Channel 3 from 1962 to 1973
  4. ^ "CNN - Veteran CNN anchor Don Harrison dead at age 61 - May 2, 1998". www.cnn.com. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  5. ^ McDOUGAL, DENNIS (1992-01-10). "CNN Averts Hoax About Bush's 'Death'". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  6. ^ a b "American Journalism Review - Archives". ajrarchive.org. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  7. ^ Powell, J. Mark (2022-08-30). "HOLY COW! HISTORY: When CNN Almost Fell for Fake News". InsideSources. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  8. ^ "Don Harrison of CNN auditions for WTSP anchor". The Tampa Tribune. 1992-12-14. p. 40. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  9. ^ Archives, L. A. Times (1998-05-03). "Don Harrison; Headline News Anchor". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2024-09-24. Retrieved 2024-09-24.
  10. ^ "Obituary for Harrison (Aged 31)". The Baltimore Sun. 1976-05-26. p. 7. Retrieved 2024-09-24.