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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: 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.
10 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.
10 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.
11 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.
11 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.
11 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.
11 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.
11 months ago

Harger: Congress can’t keep dodging UFO questions because 80 years of ‘we don’t know’ isn’t enough

Happening on Capitol Hill Tuesday, members of Congress are holding another hearing on UAPs. That’s the government’s term for “unidentified anomalous phenomena.”
11 months ago

Harger: Why was the U.S. Open so afraid of Trump getting booed?

Quick question: Since when is booing too dangerous for television? Because at yesterday’s U.S. Open, it sure seemed that way.
11 months ago

Harger: Community colleges, the unsung heroes of WA education, deserve more credit

Enter our community colleges and vocational schools, the heroes nobody puts on a bumper sticker.
11 months ago

Harger: Bail for ‘the most dangerous driver in WA’ isn’t justice, it’s gambling with lives

Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders, who briefly chased this driver himself, called him "likely the most dangerous driver in the state."
11 months ago

Harger: We pump an extra $8.5B into education yearly and scores keep dropping

Despite increased funding, back-to-school results show no improvement in educational performance.
11 months ago

Harger: Seattle religious gathering shows free speech survives when it’s loud, messy, and nonviolent

This is free speech in action: A religious gathering met with counter protesters in one noisy, nonviolent package.
11 months ago

Harger: A local’s brutally honest guide to the Puyallup Fair (Washington State Fair)

The Washington State Fair opens today, and I'm about to share some potentially divisive Puyallup Fair hot takes that might get me banned from the scone line.
11 months ago

Harger: If you overstayed your visa in China, you’d disappear. That’s why America must be different

Immigration raids test our values. Understand the differences in visa policies between China and the U.S. for a better perspective.
11 months ago

Harger: Mayor Harrell curbed graffiti. Now he should focus on public drug use

Mayor Harrell is making Seattle look like a city that actually cares about first impressions. Too bad the mayor can't power-wash away downtown's drug problems as easily.
12 months ago

Harger: Washington spent $4B on the climate. China erased it in a week.

Washington invested $4B for climate, while China reversed it in days. Explore the implications for global climate initiatives.
12 months ago