Veteran Oregon newsman Ted Bryant died this week. Ted was a friend of my father, Steve Currie, a television producer who worked at KOIN-TV for 14 years and passed away in 1998. The last time I talked with Ted was at my father’s memorial service. Ted and my dad got along for a lot of reasons – one of them was their strong belief in local news programming.
"His nickname was 'The Sheriff,' both because of his love of Western lore and because he rode herd over us," recalled KOIN anchor/reporter Mike Donahue. "Ted was a tough taskmaster but a great mentor. Accuracy was everything with him, not getting it first. And he had no use for consultants. He was old school."Mr. Bryant left KOIN in 1986, moving on to jobs at KOPB radio, where he served as news director, and KXL-AM, where he hosted a talk show. He also taught broadcast writing at Linfield College and the University of Portland, served as news consultant to the Republic of Estonia for the U.S. Information Agency and contributed freelance stories for publications ranging from The Oregonian to Woman's World and Senior Lifestyle magazines.
Ted Bryant will be missed.
