At the end of August, veteran sports and news journalist Art Holliday retired after 46 years at KSDK in St. Louis. But back in late July 1979, he was a lanky, 25-year-old Mizzou grad about to become a weekend sportscaster at a major station in his hometown — and freaking out about it.
“Instead of just focusing on the job, I was thinking, ‘Oh, my coaches are going to be watching, and my former teammates and my cousins and my neighbors and …’ I just made myself into a crazy person,” Holliday said. “I appreciate the fact, in retrospect, that the audience gave me time to become whatever I was going to become.”
His multidecade career at KSDK encompassed five positions, including roles as a general assignment reporter and an early-morning show producer. Holliday’s 22-year stint as co-anchor of Channel 5’s “Today in St. Louis” went a long way to establishing his status as a beloved public figure. He also made St. Louis media history when he became KSDK’s first Black news director. Holliday’s numerous and varied professional experiences to that point – “the joys and trials and tribulations” – informed his approach to that prominent leadership role…