Charles Jaco (born August 21, 1950) is an American journalist and author, best known for his coverage of

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, codenamed Project 17, began on 2 August 1990 and marked the beginning of the Gulf War. After defeating the Kuwait, State of Kuwait on 4 August 1990, Ba'athist Iraq, Iraq went on to militarily occupy the country fo ...

and the ensuing

Gulf War , combatant2 = , commander1 = , commander2 = , strength1 = Over 950,000 soldiers3,113 tanks1,800 aircraft2,200 artillery systems , page = https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GAOREPORTS-PEMD-96- ...

. Jaco was born in

Poplar Bluff, Missouri Poplar Bluff is a city in Butler County, Missouri, Butler County in southeastern Missouri, United States. It is the county seat of Butler County and is known as "The Gateway to the Ozarks" among other names. The population was 16,225 at the 2020 ...

. He graduated from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

in 1973 and earned a master's degree from

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1976. In 1976, he began his broadcast career with

WXRT WXRT (93.1 FM), also known as XRT and 93-XRT is an alternative rock radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned by Audacy, Inc. The station broadcasts from a transmitter atop John Hancock Center and its studios are located at T ...

radio in Chicago, Illinois. He worked for

NBC Radio The National Broadcasting Company's NBC Radio Network (also known as the NBC Red Network from 1927 to 1942) was an American commercial radio network which was in continuous operation from 1926 through 1999. Along with the NBC Blue Network, it wa ...

(identified on air as "C.D. Jaco") from 1979 until 1988. In 1987, he was badly beaten by the security forces of Panamanian dictator

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno ( , ; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. He never officially serv ...

. In late 1988, he became a correspondent for

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. In 1989, while covering allegations of electoral fraud by the Panamanian government, Jaco was visited by vigilantes of Noriega. He fled the country with the aid of the U.S. military. While covering the Gulf War for CNN in 1991, he proposed to fellow CNN correspondent Pat Neal. He left CNN in 1994 and joined

KMOX KMOX (1120 AM broadcasting, AM) is a commercial radio station in St. Louis, Missouri, owned by Audacy, Inc. The station is a 50,000 watt List of North American broadcast station classes, Class A clear-channel station with a omnidirectional ante ...

. He authored ''Dead Air'', a novel about the Gulf War, and ''Live Shot'', a novel set in Cuba. 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''. In 2003 he became a reporter and anchor for

KTVI KTVI (channel 2) is a television station in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, affiliated with the Fox network. It is owned by Nexstar Media Group alongside KPLR-TV (channel 11), an owned-and-operated station of The CW. The two stations sh ...

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''. In February 2010 Jaco allegedly bumped into conservative blogger Adam Sharp. Based on Sharp's video of the encounter, the city prosecutor declined to pursue charges against Jaco. In October 2010, Jaco was replaced by J.C. Corcoran at KTRS. In August 2012 Jaco interviewed then U.S. Representative and senatorial candidate

Todd Akin William Todd Akin (July 5, 1947 – October 3, 2021) was an American politician who served as the U.S. representative for from 2001 to 2013. He was a member of the Republican Party. Born in New York City, Akin grew up in the Greater St. Louis ...

on ''The Jaco Report'' in which Akin controversially claimed that women rarely become pregnant from "legitimate rape." Jaco left KTVI in 2014. Jaco writes regular columns for the '' St. Louis American''.Columnist Charles Jaco at the St. Louis American
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References

External links

Twitter account

Homepage at MetroSTL.com

KTVI's ''The Jaco Report''
(archived) {{DEFAULTSORT:Jaco, Charles University of Chicago alumni Columbia University alumni American radio reporters and correspondents American television reporters and correspondents CNN people Writers from Missouri American political commentators American columnists 1950 births Living people Accuracy disputes from July 2010 War correspondents of the Gulf War