Stan Atkinson

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Stan Atkinson (November 11, 1932 – May 25, 2025) was an American television news reporter and anchor with a 46-year career in TV and radio, mostly in California. He studied journalism at Pasadena City College and served as a Fort Ord Division faculty member in the U.S. Army. He worked as a documentary producer, writer, and director for David Wolper Productions, and later as a reporter and anchor in the San Francisco Bay Area and for NBC Los Angeles, where he covered the Tate-LaBianca murders and the Manson trial.

A fearless, assignment-driven journalist, Atkinson chose many of his own stories, including dangerous ones. He reported from Afghanistan with the Mujahadin, was robbed by guerrillas in El Salvador, and was shot at in Cambodia. He covered U.S. forces in Bosnia, Hong Kong’s reunification with China, and events around Desert Storm in Iraq and Kuwait. He reported on the withdrawal of American forces from Somalia and, on a third assignment to South Africa, watched the country’s first all-race democratic election. He had a long relationship with Vietnam as well, visiting in 1961–62 and returning in 1987 with a former Green Beret.

In Sacramento, Atkinson was the chief news anchor and reporter for KCRA 3 for 23 years, then spent five years at KOVR 13. He retired in July 1999 after 46 years in broadcasting.

He earned three Emmys for his Afghanistan work and another for a Somalia documentary in 1981. His many honors also include the World Affairs Council Award for International Reporting, the Albert and Mary Lasker Award for Medical Journalism, and the 1989 George Washington Medal for Individual Achievement from the Freedom Foundation. He was named a Ford Foundation Journalism Fellow at Stanford in 1967 and received the Governor’s Award from the Northern California chapter of the National Television Academy in 2016.

Atkinson began his community service in 1960 by joining the boards of the Mental Health Association and the Family Service Agency and later served on the boards of about 11 other organizations. He lived in Sacramento and died on May 25, 2025, at age 92. He was a father to four sons and a daughter, and a stepfather to four.