Forty years ago, John Hockenberry got his start in radio in Eugene as a volunteer at KLCC. Next, he joined national public radio, then worked in network television. Hockenberry returned to radio journalism as host of the Takeaway which airs on KLCC at 11am. He was in Eugene for the Presidential Lecture Series at Lane Community College. KLCC’s Tiffany Eckert sat down with John Hockenberry for a little one-on-one.
John Hockenberry has been around- as a correspondent he’s covered wars, famine, revolutions. He’s traveled to Somalia, Palestine, Iran --to get the story. Hockeberry says he’s seen the best and the worst of the human spirit.
He’s done all of this in a wheelchair. When he was 19 years old, Hockenberry was in a car accident that left him paralyzed from the chest down. Part of his job at The Takeaway is to ask the questions that will inspire real stories from regular people. While I had this successful journalist in the KLCC studio, we talked about his work, his love of music (he says ‘jamming is a lot like interviewing,’) Then, I asked him what gets under his skin—his pet peeves—how he answered was personal and real.
