Charles Jaco (born August 21, 1950 in Poplar Bluff, Missouri) is an American journalist and author, best known for his coverage of Iraq's invasion of Kuwait and the ensuing Gulf War. He graduated from The University of Chicago in 1973, and received a Master's degree from Columbia University in 1976.[1] In 1976, he began his broadcast career with WXRT radio in Chicago, Illinois.
He worked for NBC Network Radio from 1979 until 1988. He has won three Peabody Awards.[1] In 1987, he was badly beaten by the security forces of Panamanian dictator General Manuel Antonio Noriega.[2] In late 1988, he became a correspondent for CNN. While covering the Gulf War for CNN in 1991, he proposed to fellow CNN correspondent, Pat Neal.[3] He left CNN in 1994 and joined KMOX.[2]
He authored Dead Air, a novel about the first Gulf War, and Live Shot, a novel set in Cuba.[1] In 2002, he authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Gulf War, and in 2003 co-authored The Complete Idiot's Guide to the Politics of Oil.[1] In 2003 he became a reporter and anchor for KTVI television in St. Louis, Missouri, while hosting the station's The Jaco Report. In 2009 He began work at the radio station KTRS 550, doing a daily morning talk show, also titled The Jaco Report. Recently he was involved in controversy surrounding the tea party movement.[4]
On October 6, 2010 Jaco resigned from KTRS and was replaced by J.C. Corcoran.[5]