By Jeff Shelley

Jesse Jones has quickly become a fixture on KING 5’s evening news. His “Get Jesse’ segments on the Seattle NBC affiliate have made the 47-year-old not only in demand as an investigative reporter for viewers needing help with consumer complaints, but he’s responsible for making the feature must-watch TV.

Besides helping to right the wrongs of those who come to him for help, his signature sign-off, “Jesse Jones—KING 5 News!” is unusual for television, in that he almost shouts his name at the conclusion of each segment.

After graduating from Foss High School, the Tacoma native received a football scholarship at Montana State, where he earned a B.S. degree in film and TV production. The burly Jones was the starting fullback on the football team, helping the Bobcats to a 1-AA National Championship in 1984.

He gave pro football a go. “I signed as a free agent with the Green Bay Packers and got a career-ending injury after the last preseason game,” he said.

Looking for a place to use his degree, Jones caught on at a Seattle station. “I got my first break at KSTW-TV. I’d finished college and wanted a job, any job, in TV. Luckily, Jack Eddy, news director at the station, gave me an opportunity.

“I was hired as a teleprompter operator and night-time receptionist. Then, two years later, they asked me to become a sports reporter. When Jack left the station, a new news director asked me to move to news. I’ve been a news reporter ever since.”

His career then took him to Baltimore, where he was an investigative reporter for WMAR-TV. While there, Jesse was honored as Reporter of the Year in 2000 by the Association of Black Media Workers.

After seven years on the East Coast, he moved to WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, where he won Emmy Awards for investigative reporting three years in a row. Jones returned to his home state in 2005 to go to work for KING. By then, he and his wife Kim were joined by a daughter Cydney, now two.

In 2007, Jones was diagnosed with kidney cancer; during surgery a small tumor was removed. He was clean for three years, but the cancer returned in late 2010 and he began a new treatment early last year. “I went through a very difficult treatment called interleukin-2 in January,” he said. “I’m still battling the disease. I’m hoping for a complete recovery.”

As Jones has dealt with the disease, golf helped take his mind off the rugged treatment. “Golf gave me one thing to look forward to after the crappy treatment,” he said. “In fact, I played long before the doctor would allow me to. I ended up hurting my back,but I didn’t give a crap. It was so fun… and painful.”

He’s also a pretty good stick, regularly shooting in the low 80s. He’s played many of the East Coast’s greatest courses, and says “I’ve been blessed to be able to play so many great courses,” adding that his favorite layouts are those that don’t cost an arm and a leg.

“Golf’s like wine,” Jesse said. “Anybody can pay $200 for a bottle but someone who knows can get you a great bottle for $30.”  And his interest in golf extends beyond just playing. He’s also a course rater for Golfweek magazine.

The economy has contributed to the skyrocketing popularity of his “Get Jesse” segment.“Before the recession people used to blow off losing $100, but not anymore,” he said.

As for his signature signoff, he related that Seattle is a great news town with talented reporters but they all seemed to have a bland way of ending stories. So he thought he’d take a different tack after moving  to Seattle from Cincinnati.

“I wanted to be sure I didn’t make a mistake with using KING (instead of saying WLWT-TV). So I made sure I said it clearly. It’s like a golf swing, once you’re committed to it, you need to finish.
“I was never doing it to draw attention,” he added with a laugh, “but once the station started getting letters, I said, ‘I got you.’ I started going to grocery stores and people were saying, ‘Jesse Jones—KING 5 News!’

“The funniest story was when I went into Costco and saw this elderly couple coming toward me. Right as they passed, the little old lady looks up and says,‘Jesse Jones—KING 5 News!’ She puts her head down and continues walking.”
Go get ’em Jesse.

•
This article was reprinted with permission from Pacific Northwest Golfer magazine. Jeff Shelley is the editorial director for cybergolf.com and golfconstructionnews.com. He also authored three editions of the book, Golf Courses of the Pacific Northwest.