For many years, Boise was spoiled by really talented journalists that made the Treasure Valley their forever home. In a media market the size of Boise, storied careers like those of Mark Johnson, Dee Sarton, Carolyn Holly and the late Larry Gebert are far from common. Another well-known KTVB personality is about to sign off.
Just a few weeks ago, longtime personality and host of The 208, Brian Holmes announced that he was leaving Boise’s NBC affiliate. Many viewers expected one of the longest running members of the show, Joe Parris, to pick up where Holmes left off.
It looks like that won’t be the plan. During the News at 4 on Thursday, January 8, Parris announced that he will be leaving KTVB in February. During the announcement Parris revealed that he’ll be retiring from the news business completely and moving on to a new role in Idaho Secretary of State Phil McGrane’s office. As KTVB’s chief political reporter, he’s going to be a natural fit.
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According to his station bio, Parris joined KTVB in 2016 as a reporter on Wake Up Idaho. As a morning show host myself, one of the things I was most grateful for was his “Joe on the Road” segments. When winter weather struck the Treasure Valley overnight, they had Parris hit the road and let everyone know what the road conditions were like for the morning commute first-hand. He doesn’t know it, but he’s a big part of this host making it to work on time more times that I can count!
During his tenure at KTVB, Parris won several Idaho Press Club awards and regional Emmy Awards. He also did some fill-in work as the play-by-play announcer for the Idaho Steelheads radio broadcasts…