Mike Deeson is an American investigative journalist who is known for his work at

WTSP WTSP (channel 10) is a television station licensed to St. Petersburg, Florida, United States, serving the Tampa Bay area as an affiliate of CBS. The station is owned by Tegna Inc., and maintains studios on Gandy Boulevard on St. Petersburg's ...

television in

Tampa Bay Tampa Bay is a large natural harbor and shallow estuary connected to the Gulf of Mexico on the west-central coast of Florida, comprising Hillsborough Bay, McKay Bay, Old Tampa Bay, Middle Tampa Bay, and Lower Tampa Bay. The largest freshwater i ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

, from 1982 to 2017.

Early life

Deeson was born near Chicago, Illinois, and attended the

Missouri School of Journalism The Missouri School of Journalism, housed under the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, Columbia, is one of the oldest formal journalism schools in the world. The school provides academic education and practical training in of journalis ...

Career

After graduating college in the 1960s, Deeson worked at stations in Michigan, New York, and Virginia before landing in Tampa Bay. While at WTSP, Deeson earned 11 Emmy Awards as well as

The Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

Florida Journalist of the Year award in 2015. After his retirement, Deeson was honored by the

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

City Council. He then wrote a book about his time as a reporter, "Bad News for You Is Good News for Me!" The non-fiction book recalls stories from Deeson's coverage of U.S. presidents, wars abroad, and other stories from across Florida. Deeson is also a published composer and the former regional coordinator for the

Nashville Songwriters Association International The Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) is a 501(c) Non-profit organization, not-for-profit trade organization that works to help songwriters in three ways: through legislative advocacy, through education and advice about the ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Deeson, Mike American investigative journalists 1948 births Missouri School of Journalism alumni Journalists from Florida People from Tampa, Florida Journalists from Chicago Living people