27-05-2025
Stan Atkinson, cornerstone of Sacramento broadcast news, dies at 92
Longtime Sacramento news anchor Stan Atkinson died on Sunday at the age of 92, Channel 3 (KCRA) and Channel 13 (KOVR) reported Monday morning.
For nearly three decades, Atkinson was a mainstay of Sacramento broadcast news, earning legend status for his boots-on-the-ground reporting on wars across the globe and his charitable work raising millions of dollars for organizations in the region. He spent 24 years at KCRA before moving to KOVR in 1994.
The Sacramento Bee's Bob Sylva called Atkinson 'the man who owns Sacramento' in a 1986 profile.
'Viewers ... see KCRA as their station and Stan Atkinson as their news caster,' Sylva's story read. 'Until some other local anchor can peer down the barrel of a camera and emote and ad-lib as artfully as Atkinson, that affiliation is unlikely to change.'
Walt Gray, an anchor on Channel 10 (KXTV), considered Atkinson a mentor when they worked the same shift at KCRA.
'When I got to town (in 1988), I had heard of him, but I'd never seen anything like that before — a guy who was so dominant in his field, yet doing as much charitable work as possible with an already busy schedule,' Gray said. 'That's leading by example.'
Atkinson had charity events and benefits 'scheduled nearly every evening,' Sylva wrote. He adamantly supported the work of the Sisters of Mercy in the Sacramento region, according to Gray.
Steve Swatt, a former KCRA politics reporter, said he remembered Atkinson's insatiable need to find news in every corner of the globe.
'He simply had to be where news was happening ... whether it was Cambodia, Afghanistan, Cuba, Guatemala, or many other world hot spots,' Swatt wrote in response to a request for people to share their recollections of Atkinson.
'He had the clout to convince management that these stories needed to be covered, delivering compelling reports that were the talk of Northern California and a significant reason why KCRA was so highly regarded,' he wrote.
Atkinson retired in 1999 after five years on Channel 13. A gala honoring his career held earlier that year was attended by 900 people, The Bee reported at the time.
KCRA reporter Kurtis Ming witnessed Atkinson's gravity in the community firsthand — 15 years after his retirement.
In 2014, Ming took Atkinson to lunch in Sacramento, and he was in awe seeing restaurant-goers light up upon recognizing Atkinson. The local legend took time to shake hands with every diner in the room, Ming said.
'They don't make them like him anymore,' Ming said.
Gray had similar memories from when the two would grab a glass of wine at Paragary's after the evening news.
'He was so friendly to everyone, but that's who he was,' Gray said. 'He wasn't doing it to be the anchorman ... he was as kind as could be.'
Ming and Gray both agreed Atkinson could be considered the Walter Cronkite of Sacramento.
'He certainly was the dominant anchorman of his era,' Gray said. 'The 'right-place-at-the-right-time' guy who really was interested in journalism, and he was so easy on the air too.'
Matías Bombal, film historian and friend of Atkinson, said it was his connection with the community that set Atkinson apart from broadcast news' heavy hitters.
'(He) was so intermeshed with everyone in town,' he said. '(He) would talk to anyone, from a garage mechanic to a visiting titled person, with the same ease.'
Though he was regularly in contact with Atkinson throughout the years, Ming said one of his biggest career regrets is that he never worked directly with the man he called an icon of Sacramento.
'What a thrill it was to know him,' Ming said.
