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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: A killer. Medium to high risk. Questioned about arson 3 times. 2 states had his file. Hundreds of homes in Spokane are gone

The situation in Spokane is hard to believe. A man has been arrested and is being held on suspicion of starting the biggest of those three fires.
2 months ago

Harger: The Bite of Seattle shooter is still out there. SPD won’t release a description. Here’s what may be slowing this investigation down

I'm frustrated. I don't have inside information. What I have is police reports, public statements, and the same questions you have.
2 months ago

Harger: My primary ballot is sitting on my microwave. If a politics nerd is cramming, the August primary isn’t working

We moved primaries from September to August in 2008 to give election officials more time to process mail-in ballots. That made logistical sense. For actually getting people to vote, it's a flop.
2 months ago

Harger: Washington leads the nation in retail theft. Vancouver’s answer is to stop citing shoplifters. What could go wrong?

A study ranked us No. 1 among the states for retail theft impact. No. 1. Out of 50. The study found Washington had 48% more reported retail theft than our share of the national population would predict.
2 months ago

Harger: The Seattle Times wants to ban the Blue Angels. I’ve changed my mind. They’re right

Thanks to The Seattle Times' editorial board, I've changed my mind. The Blue Angels don't belong in modern Seattle. Not because they're loud. Not because they're military. Because they're just too exciting.
2 months ago

Harger: A 15-year-old allegedly opened fire at the Bite of Seattle. Two broken laws will almost certainly let him walk

The bullets that killed Whitehead and Villalba do not appear to have come from the teen's gun. Think about what a defense attorney does with that.
2 months ago

Harger: Seattle took in 40% more in taxes, spent all of it, and now wants the highest sales tax of any major city in America

This fall, Seattle voters, who are generally open to raising taxes on themselves, will decide whether to raise the sales tax to expand bus service, and whether to boost the library levy.
2 months ago

Harger: Three people are dead at the Bite of Seattle. A two-year-old was shot. The city deserved better than what came next

A 44-year-old man was killed. A 56-year-old woman died at Harborview after surgery. Four others, including a two-year-old boy, were shot. A toddler.
2 months ago

Harger: We find something pure and we love it so hard we ruin it. Jimothy needs an exit strategy

Jimothy is a sensation. One week ago, we first brought you the story of this goofy raccoon on our show. Every day since, the Jimothy content has multiplied.
2 months ago

Harger: Congress just cut thousands of dollars off the only home a lot of Americans can afford

What's going on is that lawmakers in both parties have figured out affordable housing is sinking them with a big part of the country.
2 months ago

Harger: I love sea lions. Some of them have to die, or $7 billion in salmon recovery goes in their adorable bellies

I love sea lions. I've put this off for years and I hate saying it, but some sea lions gotta die.
2 months ago

Harger: Coffee was going to kill you. Now five cups a day is heart-healthy. Check back in five years

The American Heart Association came out Monday and said five cups of coffee a day is safe for most adults.
2 months ago

Harger: Washington’s budget went from $33 billion to $80 billion. Two former Democratic governors claim Olympia has lost the thread

Between Gary Locke and Christine Gregoire, they've balanced more budgets than anyone currently working in Olympia, and they know what one looks like when it's heading somewhere bad.
2 months ago

Harger: One year of daily commentaries. A few things I’ve learned in this chair

One year ago tomorrow, I started doing a daily commentary on "Seattle's Morning News." But to tell you where this really started, I have to go back to 1989.
2 months ago

Harger: I love my diesel F350. She costs me $11,300 a year just to commute. That’s why I drive an EV to work

My commute is roughly 80 miles round trip, from Auburn to KIRO in Eastlake, five days a week. That's about 400 miles. At 11 miles per gallon, that's roughly 36 gallons of diesel a week.
2 months ago

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirms secret bidding war for Seattle SuperSonics expansion team

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver confirmed Tuesday that multiple private groups are competing to land an expansion franchise in Seattle.
2 months ago

Harger: A Mongolian grill owner left 31 tips for a happy marriage on every table. I still think about them

On every table, right next to the menu, the owner left three laminated pages of marriage advice. Two pages were his. One was his wife's.
2 months ago

Costco just launched a brand-new food court item. We tried the $6.99 chicken strips and compared them to Raising Cane’s.

Costco's food court has a brand-new menu item this week, and it's one shoppers have been waiting months to get their hands on.
2 months ago

Harger: You put the plastic in the recycling bin. Nobody will tell you what happens next

Recycling is a great thing when it actually conserves resources and prevents pollution. But does it work, or does it just make us feel like we did?
2 months ago

Six organized retail theft suspects in King County court Monday as Washington leads nation in shoplifting

Six defendants accused of organized retail theft were arraigned in King County court Monday.
2 months ago

Harger: Washington leads the nation in shoplifting. A 33-officer department in Bonney Lake is trying to do something about it

The Bonney Lake PD runs a Facebook page called Can You ID Crime. There you'll see surveillance stills of people they haven't identified yet, with the date, what got taken, and a tip line.
2 months ago

Harger: He’s accused of stealing $1,000 in copper off the West Seattle Bridge. Ratepayers got a $100,000 bill. He didn’t show up to court

Galitzeck had bundles of copper wire hanging from his arms. When asked what he was doing up there, he said he was working for Seattle City Light.
2 months ago

Harger: 511,000 signatures to repeal Washington’s income tax. Five reasons that might not be enough

I think initiative supporters attempting to repeal Washington's "millionaire tax" have a lot more to be concerned about than they're letting on.
2 months ago

‘It’s a total loss’: Washington’s most wished-for Airbnb, the Hobbit Inn near Lake Chelan, destroyed in Chelan Hills Fire

The Hobbit Inn, a hobbit-hole vacation rental carved into a hillside near Orondo, was destroyed over the weekend by the Chelan Hills Fire in Douglas County.
2 months ago