Joe Moore

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For other uses, see Joe Moore (disambiguation).

Joe Moore is a television actor and anchor of KHON2 News.

Joe Moore is a United States television personality. He is an actor and news anchor in Honolulu, Hawaii. Considered one of the most influential voices in Hawaii media, Moore currently serves as principal news anchor of KHON, Hawaii's Fox affiliate and the state's highest-rated station. He also has appeared on various television shows and live theatrical productions.

1 Military
2 Popularity
3 Controversy
4 Family

[edit] Military

Growing up in Honolulu, Moore graduated from Aiea High School. He briefly left Hawaii to attend the University of Maryland, College Park where he majored in communication and history. Moore served two tours of duty with the United States Army 25th Infantry Division in the Vietnam War with close friend and fellow entertainer Pat Sajak. He also served with the American Forces Vietnam Network from Ho Chi Minh City. Moore returned to Hawaii in 1969 and joined KGMB-TV as sports anchor under mentor and news director Bob Sevey. After nine years as part of the market-dominating CBS Hawaii news team, Moore moved to KHON-TV which was then Hawaii's NBC affiliate (it joined Fox in 1995). Within a few years, KHON had passed KGMB as the top-rated station in Hawaii--a lead it continues to hold to this day.

[edit] Popularity

Moore began his own world news program for KHON, competing with the major broadcast network anchors Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Dan Rather. Moore managed to pounce on his competition, obtaining the highest ratings in the world news time slot at 5:30 p.m.

[edit] Controversy

While Moore enjoys immense popularity, he has his share of crtiticism and opposition. He has been vocal about local politics, at times sharing his editorial views during broadcasts without warning. One of his most controversial remarks were made at the end of the 10:00 p.m. news broadcast on May 7, 1998. He denounced his own television network:

"This has been a long time coming, ever since two years ago when we became a Fox affiliate. Regular viewers know I was not happy about that change for a variety of reasons. As you probably also know, a short time later, after getting feelers from two other TV stations in town, I signed a long-term contract to remain here at channel two. It was with mixed emotions that I did that. Obviously on the plus side, long-term job security. On the negative side, I had a hard time, a very hard time, getting comfortable with the Fox programs. Some of them. Then, two months ago, my son was born. Amazing how an event like that can help crystalize your thinking. What was my problem with Fox? The fact that many of its shows are clearly aimed at a younger audience? The fact that some, like tonight's Wildest Police Videos and Scariest Police Chases 12 (or whatever the number was), the fact that I find those shows repugnant and offensive? Yes. So why didn't I go to work for another station? Several reasons. One, I like the people here. Two, when I thought about the programs on the other stations, there's a lot of what I think is trash there, too. In fact, I counted the number of shows I really (and I mean really) like to watch on the different networks. On NBC there's four, soon to be three; on ABC, two; CBS, one; on Fox, three. Sitting down and making that list helped put things in perspective. There is a lot of crap on TV. Does Fox have more than its fair share? In my personal opinion, yes. But that's the opinion of a fifty-year-old newsman who's interested in well-made dramas, historical pieces and thought-provoking comedies. So would I be happier at another station? No. Why? Because it's not the Fox programs — that will come and go based on the strength or weakness of their ratings — that make this station what it is. It's the people who work here. The people I work with day in and day out. The people in our newsroom, in the studio, the control room, the tape room, the front office. It's these people who have made channel two what it is today, and who will make it what it will be tomorrow. And they're the best. I don't know why looking into my little son's eyes helped clear my head about all this — what's important, what's not important — but it did. And as viewers of this newscast, I felt you had a right to know. That's our late news for this Thursday. Thank you for joining us. Have a good night. And if our owners and management are so inclined, I'll see you tomorrow. If not, well, I guess that's television. Thanks for letting me into your homes over the years. Good night."

In another example, during a 2004 debate between candidates for Mayor of Honolulu, Moore mentioned his personal opposition to a name change of the University of Hawaii at Manoa football team from being called the "Rainbow Warriors" to "Warriors". He then asked the candidates, Duke Bainum and Mufi Hannemann whether or not the name change should be overturned.

Moore's editorializing has been deemed by critics as personal grandstanding. However, his tremendous popularity in the state usually prevents any attempts to rein him in.

Moore was very critical of several personnel decisions made by Montecito Broadcast Group after it bought KHON in 2006. He'd given some thought to moving to another station or retiring, but decided to stay on. In an e-mail to staff on February 6, Moore wrote, "How could I possibly work for owners I do not respect? After much deliberation, I reached this conclusion ... the owners are not KHON-2. We, the people who work here are KHON-2. I would not be working FOR THE OWNERS. I would be working FOR OUR VIEWERS, and WITH fellow employees I deeply respect. I have decided not to let our owners drive me out of KHON-2."

On June 28, 2006, Moore appeared to take another dig at Montecito Broadcast Group, after it had installed automated equipment at the station. An audio glitch at the start of the 10pm newscast prompted Moore to stop, ask the technical crew if the problem could be fixed, say "We're going to get this straightened out because I'm fed up with this crap", and pitch to commercial. The problem had been fixed when the newscast returned, and Moore resumed as normal.