Paul Magers (born May 15, 1954) is an American former news anchor and reporter, most recently at

KCBS-TV KCBS-TV (channel 2), branded CBS Los Angeles, is a television station in Los Angeles, California, United States, serving as the West Coast of the United States, West Coast flagship station of the CBS network. It is owned and operated by the n ...

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. Magers was born in

Santa Maria, California Santa Maria (Spanish language, Spanish for "Mary, mother of Jesus, St. Mary") is a city in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Located on the Central Coast (California), Central Coast of California, it is approximately northwest o ...

, and spent the majority of his childhood in

Ellensburg, Washington Ellensburg is a city in and the county seat of Kittitas County, Washington, United States. It is located just east of the Cascade Range near the junction of Interstate 90 in Washington, Interstate 90 and Interstate 82. The population was 18,666 ...

. He earned his bachelor's degree from the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...

in 1977. In 1979, he earned his Juris Doctor degree from the

Hamline University School of Law Hamline University School of Law was a private law school affiliated with Hamline University in Saint Paul, Minnesota. It was founded in 1972 as the Midwestern School of Law by a group of legal professionals. In 1976, Midwestern School of Law w ...

St. Paul Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the teachings of Jesus in the first-century world. For his contributions towards the New Testament, he is generally ...

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. The recipient of numerous industry awards, including several

Emmys The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award categor ...

and a

Golden Mike Award The Golden Mike Award is a broadcast journalism award presented by the Radio and Television News Association (RTNA) of Southern California. Awards are given in the categories of television news and radio news. Eligibility is limited to a select g ...

, Magers began his broadcasting career at

KSTP-TV KSTP-TV (channel 5) is a television station licensed to Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States, serving the Twin Cities area as an affiliate of ABC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Hubbard Broadcasting, which has owned th ...

in Minneapolis-St. Paul, then moved in 1979 to

KATU KATU (channel 2) is a television station in Portland, Oregon, United States, affiliated with ABC. It is owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group alongside La Grande–licensed independent station KUNP, channel 16 (which KATU simulcasts on its sec ...

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

, where he began working as an on-air reporter. In 1981, he moved down the West Coast to KGTV-TV in

San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...

, where he spent two years as a reporter and

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal, used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ', which itself comes from the Greek (). Anch ...

before he returned to the

Twin Cities Twin cities are a special case of two neighboring cities or urban centres that grow into a single conurbation – or narrowly separated urban areas – over time. There are no formal criteria, but twin cities are generally comparable in stat ...

and began his 20-year career with

KARE-TV KARE (channel 11) is a television station licensed to Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States, serving as the NBC affiliate for the Twin Cities area. Owned by Tegna Inc., the station maintains studios on Olson Memorial Highway (MN 55) in Golden Va ...

. Paul and 10:00 p.m. co-anchor Diana Pierce both joined the station in September 1983 and remained together on that newscast until September 2003. Magers moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

in 2004. In addition to anchoring the evening newscasts, he hosted numerous specials and moderated political debates and participated in a wide variety of community events, including a 1997 telethon to raise money for flood relief in Minnesota. Magers announced his retirement from television broadcasting in March 2017, revealing his long struggle with alcoholism.

References

American broadcast news analysts CBS News people Television anchors from Los Angeles People from Santa Maria, California People from Ellensburg, Washington University of Washington alumni Hamline University School of Law alumni 1954 births Living people {{US-tv-journalist-stub