Host, Seattle's Morning News

Charlie Harger

About

I’m a journalist with more than 30 years of experience covering the stories that shape life in western Washington. I host Seattle’s Morning News on KIRO Newsradio, where I help listeners start their day informed, prepared, and sometimes even entertained.

My reporting has earned multiple national and regional awards, including several Edward R. Murrow Awards. I’ve also been named APTRA’s Radio Reporter of the Year and recognized for investigative reporting on major stories like the Boeing 737 MAX crisis and interviews with serial killer Gary Ridgway.

I specialize in making complex issues understandable, focusing on how news affects real people. I’m a fourth-generation western Washington resident and have called Auburn home for over a decade.

Before hosting, I served as News Director at KIRO, worked at KOMO for nearly two decades, and taught journalism at Green River College. I take news seriously — but believe the best reporting connects on a human level.

Expertise

  • Broadcast Journalism and Storytelling
  • Investigative and Accountability Reporting
  • Community Impact and Public Service Journalism

Experience

  • Host, Seattle’s Morning News – KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • News Director – KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM
  • Reporter and Anchor – KOMO Newsradio
  • Broadcast Instructor – Green River College
  • Communications and Digital Media – Microsoft and tech startups

Education

B.A., Communications – Thomas Edison State University
M.S., Strategic Communication – Arkansas State University

Achievements & Awards

  • Edward R. Murrow Award – Hard News (2020)
  • Edward R. Murrow Award – Continuing Coverage (2019)
  • APTRA Award – Best Investigative Reporting (2019, 2014)
  • Edward R. Murrow Award – Best Newswriting (2015)
  • APTRA Award – Radio Reporter of the Year (2015)
  • APTRA Award – Best Spot News Coverage (2015)
  • Edward R. Murrow Award – Best Documentary (2014)
  • APTRA Award – Enterprise Coverage (2014)
  • Emmy Nomination – Investigative Journalism (2014)

Social Media Profiles

Harger: After a heartbreaking week, a Renton cop, local veterans, and a boy’s first bus ride

It’s been a tough 24 hours in the news. But there’s hope. There are good people in this world, and plenty of them live right here.
3 days ago

Costco’s new $2.99 apple pie sundae has arrived in Seattle. We tried it

Costco’s new vanilla apple pie sundae, a limited-time fall treat, is rolling out at select food courts nationwide, and I got one of the first tastes.
4 days ago

Harger: Phoenix issues a building permit in 6 weeks. Seattle takes 8 months. Washington needs a shot clock

In Phoenix, a builder who wants to put up new homes gets a permit in about six weeks. In Seattle, it takes about eight months.
4 days ago

‘Zombie summer’ returns: Seattle weather forecast calls for mid-70s before rain comes back this weekend

Just when it looked like summer was finally over, it's back again. Seattle is getting one more round of warm, sunny weather this week.
5 days ago

Harger: Seattle tagger ‘Wesh’ got a sweetheart deal, mocked it, and told a judge graffiti isn’t a crime. He’s headed to jail today

One of Seattle’s most prolific graffiti vandals was ordered to walk into the King County Jail by 5 p.m. Wednesday. He’s set to spend the next five months there.
5 days ago

Harger: Gov. Ferguson won’t let the income tax drop below $1 million. A payroll tax could start at $125,000

Last week, Gov. Bob Ferguson made a promise on Facebook. "I've said it before many times, and will say it again, I will veto any attempt by the Legislature to lower the threshold below a million dollars."
6 days ago

Harger: Housing First and Recovery First shared a Seattle stage, and nobody walked out

Friday night, I moderated a panel discussion on homelessness and addiction. This wasn't going to be a food fight, and it wasn't going to be an episode of Jerry Springer.
7 days ago

Harger: 5 things I’m watching as Washington ballots hit mailboxes, from WA-3 to the income tax

Ballots start landing in Washington mailboxes a week from today, on Friday, Oct. 16. Election night is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
10 days ago

Raising Cane’s is headed to Lakewood, steps from Chick-fil-A. Construction could start this month

Pierce County is about to get its first Raising Cane's. State records show construction could start this month on the chain's Lakewood restaurant.
11 days ago

Harger: Washington men are never alone on their phones. 60% say they’re lonely anyway

A new survey says 60% of Washington men feel lonely on a regular basis. That's the guy who fixes your furnace. The one three cubicles over who's always the last to leave. Your brother. Maybe you.
11 days ago

12 mayors, 3 GOP lawmakers and Gov. Ferguson’s office to meet fentanyl families in Kent Thursday

Families affected by fentanyl will join local mayors and state lawmakers at a free Kent forum focused on addiction, recovery, and drug policy.
11 days ago

Harger: Three rounds of treatment couldn’t make an accused ax killer fit for trial. Seattle keeps looking the other way

Today, everyone charged in these cases is either in custody or in a state hospital. The system finally stepped in. But it stepped in after a 19-year-old was dead.
12 days ago

Harger: King County’s homelessness agency couldn’t find $13 million. Its records officer says she couldn’t see the CEO’s emails

We spend a lot of time in this region arguing and complaining about homelessness. So I'll offer one idea to make it better: Shut KCRHA down and build something new, with accountability baked in three ways.
13 days ago

Harger: Seahawks owner Vinod Khosla said ‘never say never.’ Four words would end the moving talk

When asked whether he'd commit to keeping the Seahawks in Seattle, Seahawks chair Vinod Khosla said, "I will never say never."
14 days ago

Harger: An apprenticeship pays $95K in Washington, no anthropology or student loans required. Gallup says Americans noticed

I wasn't shocked this week when Gallup released a new poll. Just 31% of Americans now say a college education is very important. Back in 2013, it was 70%.
17 days ago

Harger: Seattle’s Museum of Flight has a Blackbird. NASA is quietly trying to fly an SR-71 again after 27 years

NASA appears to be trying to fly an SR-71 Blackbird again after 27 years, but missing parts, fuel, and aging expertise make a comeback daunting.
18 days ago

Harger: Twenty-seven kids on a diving Flydubai 737 MAX got home safe. Thank a Boeing worker in Renton

Earlier this week, a Flydubai jet headed from Dubai to Tel Aviv nearly went down. Officials said the co-pilot stabbed the captain and tried to crash the plane.
18 days ago

Harger: Gov. Bob Ferguson is a two-time state chess champion. Washington politics is his board now

Governor Bob Ferguson is smart. You don't make the move from the King County Council to the attorney general's office to the governor's mansion without being smart, savvy, and strategic.
19 days ago

Harger: Copper wire thieves keep hitting Seattle playfields. Now kids practice football in the dark

Copper wire theft damage runs 50 to 100 times what the stolen metal is worth. Every $1,000 in copper leaves $50,000 to $100,000 in wreckage and repairs behind it.
20 days ago

Popular California chain Starbird Chicken opens first WA restaurant in West Seattle

West Seattle has a new chicken spot. Starbird Chicken opened its first Washington restaurant Monday on Fauntleroy Way SW near the Alaska Junction.
21 days ago

Harger: Dan Wilson gave Seattle a Game 7. The Mariners should give him back a microphone

From the low of a Seahawks loss to the bittersweet high of Rick Rizzs saying "goodbye baseball" to the low again of a shaken Dan Wilson, sitting behind a table at a press conference, confirming what the whole town saw coming: He's out as Mariners manager.
21 days ago

Harger: Goodbye, baseball. Rick Rizzs signs off after 41 seasons with the Mariners, and Seattle loses its kindest voice

Rick Rizzs retires Sunday after 41 seasons with the Mariners. The Mariners were eliminated from playoff contention Thursday, and that's what makes this weekend so bittersweet.
24 days ago

Harger: ‘No camera has ever prevented a crime,’ says Seattle’s public safety director. 40 years of research disagrees

"We just want to be safe." That might be the simplest sentence anybody said at the Alki Community Council meeting last week.
25 days ago

Harger: Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson’s gutsy budget got buried by her office’s Bite of Seattle mess

Seattle Mayor Katie Wilson made one of the gutsiest decisions I've seen a politician with power make around here in a long time.
26 days ago