If you’re a longtime KING 5 viewer, you probably know these names: Jean Enersen, Lori Matsukawa, and Joyce Taylor. All three have decades of journalism experience and have broken barriers.
Jean Enersen
Jean Enersen was the first ever female to anchor a weekday newscast in the United States. She filled the anchor seat at KING 5 News for 42 years, only retiring in 2014.
“There weren't any local television anchorwomen anywhere in the country that I knew about,” remembered Enersen about the start of her career. “You know, it was just a lucky break. Really lucky timing, lucky break.”
Enersen also credited owner Dorothy Bullitt with making her and the female anchors who came after her feel supported.
"KING was a leader in the community in so many ways on the air and in the community and she kind of led the way," she said.
When Enersen told Bullitt she was getting married, the owner asked her, "Is he good enough for you? Because otherwise, I'll haunt him for the rest of his days."
That support extended to all stages of life too.
"You know, we were probably the first anchor people to have babies, not like having to hide them under the desk was my recollection, like, oh, my gosh, this woman is pregnant, let's hide her under the desk. And then gradually now people hold the babies up and say, 'Here's my baby,'" said Enersen.
During her four-decade career at KING 5, Enersen had many memorable interviews and stories. She became the first local TV journalist to report from China in 1979. She also reported from the Soviet Union in 1979. Enersen interviewed countless notable figures including Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Ronald Reagan and Barack Obama.
“I got to interview a lot of sitting presidents. Some of them were standing, some of them are sitting,” joked Enersen, who has a sharp wit.
Enersen was in her mid-20s when she first began at KING. When asked about her advice to young journalists, here’s what she had to say: “I always thought, oh, gosh, when they look at me or hear my voice, they're going to fire me for sure. But I would say to my younger self, and anybody who feels a lack of confidence, believe that you can do it, and you will be able to do it.”
Enersen said the idea of "Standing for Truth" was part of KING 5's culture from the very beginning.
"I think a really good job in KING's background was you work really hard to produce a story that's truthful, which may take a long time, not just one day, and then you work really hard in the community to be a problem solver or be a helper in the community," she explained.
Watch an extended portion of their conversation here or continue reading below.
Lori Matsukawa
Lori Matsukawa spent 36 years at KING. She retired in 2019.
“I think being hired at KING 5 was a terrific honor, because KING 5 was the big tamale in the market,” recalled Matsukawa.
“It was truly a historic time,” remembered Matsukawa about her early years at KING-TV. “It was a time of change, and we were right in the middle of it.”
Matsukawa has always been a longtime advocate for Asian American journalists. In fact, she co-founded the Seattle chapter of the Asian American Journalists Association in 1985.
"There weren't that many reporters of color on television. And so it was really incumbent on me I felt to kind of advocate for all the young people that were coming up behind me. OK, I got a job. But my job is to pull everybody forward," said Matsukawa.
Among her many accolades, Matsukawa was chosen by the Japanese American Citizens League in 2020 as a recipient of its highest public honor, the Japanese American of the Biennium Award. In 2022, she was given Japan’s Order of the Rising Sun, Gold and Silver Rays for her work promoting friendly relations between Japan and the United States.
She explained that one thing she's learned over the years is that she never knows when or how she'll have an impact on others.
"I just ran into a young man who said, 'You came to our fifth-grade class and gave a talk about incarceration. And that got me inspired to buy books, children's books about the incarceration for other elementary schools,'" she said. "Here's this young man in high school saying this."
Matsukawa had one final piece of advice for young women: to speak up.
"You have a story. You are important," Matsukawa said. "Your perspective is necessary; it's needed. So don't be afraid to share it."
Joyce Taylor
Current primetime anchor Joyce Taylor has been at KING 5 since 1988. She currently anchors “KING 5 News at 5 with Joyce Taylor” and KING 5 News at 6:30 & 7. Taylor has covered major stories in the Pacific Northwest and globally, including the Seahawks’ first-ever Super Bowl win and the death of Princess Diana.
“I grew up watching KING 5,” said Taylor, who grew up in Tacoma. “My dream job literally was to work at KING 5 someday.”
Taylor said she takes her role at the anchor desk at KING very seriously.
"I feel a responsibility to just do my best every day so that I can set an example for people who are watching our broadcast so that they will say if she can do it, I can do it. That's sort of the weight that I feel that I just need to show up every day. And just do my best, whatever it is," she said.
Taylor has gone on to win nine Emmy Awards and anchored a groundbreaking and award-winning 13-part series titled “Facing Race.”
“It’s a privilege to work in journalism, it's been a privilege to work at KING 5, and to be part of the story that is KING story,” said Taylor. “To me, there is no more important profession than journalism.”
She also recognizes a certain level of responsibility in helping the station's legacy continue beyond her career.
"I've spent more than half of my life with the KING 5 family. And as an anchor, who now is finally sitting in the chair that Jean warmed up for all of us, I feel a huge responsibility, not just about protecting the legacy that is KING 5 that Dorothy Bullitt started and all of these women carried on. But I worry a little bit about who's going to be next after me."
That legacy, Taylor said, is critical not just for our communities, but also for democracy.
"But to me, there is no more important profession than journalism. It's protected – the only job protected in the Constitution. And so the legacy to carry on that legacy, I think, is critical for our democracy. I just think it's critical."