Mark Wright
Anchor
Mark Wright is an award-winning journalist and television news anchor in Seattle, Washington. He was born in Seattle, but he was raised on his family’s organic vegetable farm in Whatcom County. Mark started working in the fields in grade school – weeding, cultivating and irrigating the crops. He and his family cut their own wood for heat and raised their own livestock. Growing up on a farm taught Mark the value of hard work. It also instilled in him a love of locally-grown food and a sustainable lifestyle.
Mark attended Ferndale High School and Washington State University. At WSU, he fell in love with broadcasting and his future wife. Mark’s professional broadcasting career began while attending the Murrow School of Communication at WSU. He worked as a reporter and anchor for the university-owned public radio station. Attending the college that shaped legendary journalist Ed Murrow has always served as an inspiration to Mark. Throughout his career he has tried to apply Murrow’s commitment to integrity and innovation to every position he’s held. Mark graduated in 1989 from WSU with a BA in Communications and a minor in Business.
Mark joined the KING 5 Morning News after anchoring at the Fox affiliate in Seattle. He spent the first part of his career in public radio. He worked as a legislative correspondent for KBSU-FM in Boise. He later worked as a reporter for Spokane Public Radio. In Spokane, Mark transitioned from public to commercial broadcasting at KXLY. In seven years, Mark rose from a radio “board operator” (fancy name for button-pusher) to evening television news anchor. In 1998, Mark left Spokane to anchor the morning news for KSTU TV in Salt Lake City. Mark and an amazing team of co-anchors took the morning show from third to first place in two years.
Mark is a two-time Emmy Award winner for his work as a hard news reporter and documentary producer.
Mark is also committed to serving the communities in which he works. He is a member of the Downtown Seattle Rotary Club. The club serves those in need at home and overseas. It is the world’s largest Rotary. Mark has served on the Rotary Service Foundation Board of Directors. Mark also volunteers his time to emcee various charity benefits and events around Western Washington – Food Lifeline, Junior Achievement and Wellspring Family Services are among organizations Mark supports.
Mark’s philosophy on life is to keep an open mind, learn something new every day and bring understanding to the issues he covers for people in Western Washington. Mark is married to his college sweetheart and has two boys. He loves working in the “big city” but feels most at home walking the fields in Ferndale that his great grandparents settled more than a century ago.
