Stan Atkinson, a prolific television news anchor who brought the world to Northern California’s living rooms, died during the Memorial Day weekend, according to his surviving sons.
Atkinson was 92. The cause of death was natural.
He studied journalism at Pasadena City College, then enlisted in the U.S. Army and was deployed to the front lines of the Korean War. His combat readiness and international awareness would come in handy when, at the age of 25, he landed a job within the newsroom of KCRA (Channel 3).
When he joined the station in 1957, KCRA had been on the air for about two years. Its local newscast was sponsored by a cigarette company, and Atkinson fronted one of two segments aired each night.
He was not permanently affixed to the anchor chair: During his four decades at the station, he traveled around the world, filing reports for KCRA from exotic places like Cuba, Afghanistan, Cambodia and Angola.
One week before Operation Desert Storm, Atkinson and a KCRA photojournalist traveled to Baghdad. Months later, after two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters were downed in Somalia, he went there to cover the withdrawal of American forces.
Atkinson brought the world to Sacramento, and Sacramento to the world. His reports were so commanding that the local newspaper characterized him as “owning” Sacramento, back when the phrase meant something positive.
He helped make KCRA into the number one-rated news station in the Sacramento market before leaving in 1994 for cross-town rival KOVR (Channel 13). His hiring was intended to help KOVR boost its lackluster ratings — KOVR, an ABC affiliate when Atkinson was hired, routinely placed last among the market’s four leading news-producing stations.
With Atkinson at the anchor desk, KOVR eventually pulled into a respectable second place, though he never quite outdid his own work that gave KCRA its stellar lead in the Nielsen ratings.
In 1999, Atkinson announced his retirement from KOVR, which had been acquired by Sinclair and transformed into a CBS affiliate. Well-wishers from KOVR and KCRA bid Atkinson farewell during a live microwave link, which aired on both stations.
In retirement, Atkinson didn’t shy away from the community or the public eye. Four years ago, he became one of the first seniors in Northern California to receive the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine — and he did it on live TV as a way to encourage other seniors to get the shot, too.
In addition to his work in Sacramento, Atkinson’s career sent him to KTVU (Channel 2) in Oakland and KNBC (Channel 4) in Los Angeles, though his time at both stations was short.
