With over 30 years of experience in front of the camera, one would think Ron Steele would have learned just about everything there is to know about television broadcasting. But according to him, every day is a learning experience.
“This whole business is a learning process,” said Steele, the evening news anchor for KWWL-TV in Waterloo, Iowa. “I’m still learning new things everyday.”
Steele (B.A. 1973) has traveled to China, Europe and many places throughout the United States while working for KWWL. He was given a personal tour of Air Force One after an interview with President George Bush, Sr. and carried the Olympic Torch during the 1996 Olympic Torch Relay.
A flier hanging in the basement of the Quadrangle Dormitory during his freshman year at The University of Iowa turned Steele’s attention toward journalism. With intentions of becoming a high school teacher and coach, Steele saw an advertisement for a campus radio station that needed disc jockeys. He applied, was offered a job, changed his major to journalism and has been immersed in the field ever since.
During his time as a student at the UI, Steele tried to experience as many jobs and internships in radio and television as possible. During his senior year, he worked part-time at WOC Channel 6 (now KWQC) in the Quad Cities. After graduation, he was offered a full-time job there as a general assignment reporter. A weekend trip to his hometown of Wapello, Iowa, in 1974 allowed him to learn about an opening for the Sports Director position at KWWL.
“I remember sitting in the lobby for two hours, waiting to talk to anyone about the job,” Steele said. “I didn’t hear anything for a long time after the interview. It was a few months before I finally got the call.”
Steele worked extensively with Bill Bolster, who later went on to become the chairman and CEO of CNBC, to develop the Iowa Television Network in 1979. It was the first network to broadcast UI basketball games and was extremely popular.
In 1981, Steele began the Iowa’s Child program. Through Iowa’s Child, nearly 300 of Iowa’s hard-to-place, “special needs” children have found permanent homes. It is the longest running news program in Iowa.
“It’s the only thing I’ve done where I haven’t been criticized,” Steele said. “It’s been an eye opener about child neglect in Iowa and it really has raised awareness for these kids that need help.”
Despite primarily working behind the desk as the evening news anchor, Steele still enjoys going out into the field and doing his own reporting — something that doesn’t occur with most news anchors.
“[Reporting] my own stories allows me to put my own touch on it,” he said. “I’ve got a callous on my shoulder from carrying a camera so much.”
For Kate Stevens (B.A. 2002), a KWWL news reporter, Steele serves as a great example of the journalist she hopes to become.
“I have never had more respect or admiration for someone in this business than Ron Steele,” she said. “Ron is the most humble man you’ll ever meet. He never complains, and that is very rare in a newsroom.”
Steele is proud that he’s been able to spend his entire journalistic career in Iowa.
“I’ve had more opportunities here than anywhere else,” he said. “It’s been fun to be able to stay here and do the things that I have done, both with my work and my family.”
