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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: Seattle’s ‘shame mail’ to Aurora sex buyers is long overdue

We've been talking for years about the sex trade on Aurora Avenue in North Seattle. Women being trafficked. Pimps fighting over territory with actual shootouts.
11 months ago

Harger: It’s time for an adult conversation about the justice system

Charlie's insights on the justice system through Tony's story, urging a necessary dialogue for reform and understanding.
11 months ago

Harger: Move over Bruce and Katie — Cal Raleigh has my vote for Seattle mayor

Sorry, Bruce. Sorry, Katie. I know you’re the actual candidates for mayor of Seattle. But I am officially endorsing Cal Raleigh for the mayor of Seattle.
11 months ago

Harger: When I heard the capitol was vandalized, my first thought was political. That’s the problem.

My brain immediately went to politics when I heard the capitol building was vandalized. Let me be clear, it's all beyond the pale. Violence is violence. Wrong is wrong.
11 months ago

Harger: Leesa Manion’s fury exposes a broken system in King County’s justice system

King County Prosecutor Leesa Manion explicitly said she's not calling for cuts to public defense. She just wants parity.
11 months ago

Harger: Economist says Washington is already in a recession

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, believes that 22 states are already in recession. Not heading toward one. Not at risk of one. Already there.
11 months ago

Harger: 5 legendary Seattle Mariners moments that define October baseball at T-Mobile Park

As the American League Divisional Series returns to Seattle, here is one fan's totally biased list of the sounds that built Seattle into a baseball city.
11 months ago

Harger: The plastic bag ban has backfired in Washington, study finds

Washington's plastic bag ban is making things worse. The state's own study says we should drop it.
11 months ago

Harger: Portland protesters’ practices are alienating their own allies

Let's also stop pretending the small subset of violent protesters out there in Portland night after night are somehow the good guys. They're not.
11 months ago

Harger: WA lawsuit payouts now twice the size of state’s budget deficit

Washington's lawsuit payouts have soared to seven times their past levels, now double the state's budget deficit.
11 months ago

Harger: From Federal Way to Spokane, attacks on signature gatherers undermine democracy

Hitting people with cars? Ripping up petitions? Defacing signatures? That's not democracy. That's vandalism dressed up as virtue.
11 months ago

Harger: Rick Rizzs and Steve Raible, Seattle’s sports broadcasters who narrate our lives

Explore how Rick Rizzs and Steve Raible enhance our lives with their memorable commentary and love for the game.
11 months ago

Harger: Record tax revenue can’t keep up with Olympia’s spending addiction

Olympia's spending addiction overshadows record tax revenue, raising concerns about the state's financial future.
11 months ago

Harger: Trump’s ‘Tylenol causes autism’ claim shows the danger of governing by gut, not science

President Trump has a new health warning. Pregnant women with pain or fever should just tough it out with no medication to help, except in extreme circumstances.
11 months ago

‘Protecting inmates to death’: Weak scanners blamed in Thurston County Jail overdoses

Thurston County Jail inmates hiding drugs in their body cavities and folds of fat aren't worried about radiation exposure. They're counting on our bureaucracy. And right now, they're right to count on it.
11 months ago

Local sailor works alongside Japanese, South Korean forces in major Pacific training

A young sailor from Seattle found himself in the middle of an important international training mission this month, working alongside Japanese and South Korean naval forces in the Pacific Ocean.
11 months ago

Harger: From 1995 to 2025, how the Mariners still unite Seattle like nothing else

Playoff sports can do what politics never could: Turn strangers into neighbors for nine beautiful innings. And now the Mariners are soon going to play October ball.
11 months ago

Harger: WA’s justice system’s safeguards left an assaulted 5-year-old girl without justice

Yesterday, I was seeing red after a 46-year-old man accused of sexually assaulting a five-year-old homeless girl walked out of King County Jail. Free.
11 months ago

Harger: Sound Transit said it will stay the course. Should taxpayers?

Explore Harger’s insights on Sound Transit’s financial decisions and what it means for taxpayers. Real money, real concerns.
11 months ago

Harger: When death on the street becomes normal, something is broken

A homeless man died on the street in Portland Sunday, sitting curled in the middle of the pavement, eyes closed, tinfoil clutched in his left hand, a small baggie in his right.
12 months ago

Harger: WA families continue to shoulder the cost of the Climate Commitment Act

I told you Washington drivers had already paid about $4 billion more for gas under the Climate Commitment Act. Nearly $700 per driver. And now, here we are again. Things are getting even more expensive.
12 months ago

Harger: Show up to the Raymond public pool and other community treasures before they’re gone

Gang, this is what we mean when we say “use it or lose it.” People worked too hard to build the Raymond public pool. And it isn’t just about Raymond anymore.
12 months ago

‘I never imagined this view could vanish’: What it meant to see the World Trade Center every morning

For a brief moment after 9/11, we weren’t divided. We weren’t shouting. We simply stood together, grieving. I think about that now, in the wake of yesterday's assassination.
12 months ago

Harger: Green Hill School Detention Center is beyond repair, time to start over

We need to talk about Green Hill School, because Washington taxpayers are funding something that has gone terribly, systematically wrong.
12 months ago