George Lawson recently celebrated his 25th anniversary with KFDI News.
George was born and raised in Oklahoma. He graduated from Stillwater High School, and studied Broadcasting at Oklahoma State University.
He came to work for Mid-America Ag Network in Wichita, before joining KFDI in the fall of 1994. Former KFDI News Director, now Media Coordinator for the Sedgwick County District Attorney’s Office Dan Dillon, shared how George came to work for KFDI News.
“George Lawson was my first choice when Bill Roy gave me notice that he was leaving to become the Assignment Editor at KWCH-TV. George told me everyone who worked for the network had to sign a ‘non-compete’ document before they started. Basically, it meant George had to wait six months or a year after leaving before he could work for another broadcast facility. (At the time, Great Empire Broadcasting, which owned KFDI, had no such agreement with its employees.) When George began working for the Mid-America Ag Network, they neglected to have him sign a non-compete. So I hired George. As News Director of KFDI, It was one of the best hires I ever made.”
George is presently the Executive Producer News at KFDI. His voice is probably most closely identified with severe weather coverage on KFDI. He is the calm voice in the storm when things get scary. George has won countless awards for Journalism in his 25 years at KFDI. Some of George’s personal highlights include covering the arrest of Terry Nichols in Herrington following the Oklahoma City bombing, the landing of the Concorde in 1996, and witnessing the 2004 Mulvane tornado. More recently, George helped lead the KFDI News team to back-to-back National Edward R. Murrow Awards for ‘Breaking News’ in 2016 and 2017. Just this fall, George was recognized for `Best News Feature’ by the Kansas Association of Broadcasters for his coverage of the funeral of Sedgwick County sheriff’s deputy Robert Kunze in September, 2018.
George Lawson is heard each weekday afternoon on Country 101.3 KFDI reporting the news.
