Yeah, it was 70 years ago
today the Channel 9 signed
on the air. And over these 70 years
of service, while there have been
very many personalities that have
traveled these hallowed halls,
not many though have enjoyed the
success that our next guest has.
Tom Costello joining us now from
the NBC News Washington newsroom.
Tom grew up here in the metro area,
went to Arapahoe High School and CU,
but then interned here at 9 News and
worked for us as a reporter from 1989.
To 1995.
Tom, it's good to see you.
You own such a big piece of the
legacy that belongs here.
And I just wanted to talk to you
about the old days,
who are the ones you watched,
who are the ones you got to
work with that influenced you
the most as far as journalism.
You know, in all seriousness,
Tom, it was a dream come true
for me to land at 9 news.
I mean, I had grown up watching,
you know, Ed and and Mike Landis and
Stormy and and all of the folks,
you know, Mike Nolan and company.
And so I really wanted to work there.
And I went to see you study journalism.
So then to eventually land there as a
reporter was just a dream come true.
And to get to work beside you.
You were a sports reporter back then,
Kim Christiansen, of course,
and I were reporters. Each other.
And I gotta say, you know, you, you.
I find that in this business you borrow a
little bit of the people you worked with.
You know, there's a little bit of
the writing style of Gary Shapiro.
I type I like to use and and Mark Colbert,
for example,
and Ed and and Mike and you take little
pieces and you make your own style.
And I got to say it. What?
These were formative years for me,
and I am so thankful to have
had that time at 9 news.
Yeah, I would agree with you.
There were so many people here
that had an impression on you,
and you're lucky you have
good people around you.
When you're when you are impressionable,
but now for 26 years you're there with
NBC News and and we get the chance to
talk about how much journalism has changed.
How do you right now see the
evolution of this profession?
Well, listen,
it's a challenging time for journalism.
I mean, everybody, that's,
that's no secret, right?
We have newspapers across the country
that are in jeopardy or are failing,
and news organizations like ours need to
dominate as many platforms as possible,
whether that's on cable,
on the Internet, on broadcast,
because the audience is splitting
it's it's choosing to find
their news wherever they can,
but on multiple platforms that are most
convenient to them throughout the day.
And so that's fine.
We just need to be able
to offer that to them.
At every turn and I know you're
doing the same thing there in
Colorado with your with your9news.com
and and with your channel 20.
I think that's what we have to do.
We've got to be flexible.
It's no longer appointment viewing
necessarily to watch NBC Nightly
News or 9 News or five or ten,
but to be able to to get
your news when you need it.
And I I think we're we're
getting pretty good at that.
But it's you know,
it's a challenge for some of
us old timers that we're used
to watching 9 news at 10:00
o'clock as appointment viewing.
Well you still get back here.
Flat back to Colorado and your recent role,
you came back to Boulder as a
commencement speaker for your alma mater.
Talk a bit about what that message is,
what you tell young journalists and and
what you tell youngsters in general now,
as you call us, old timers.
Well, I I gotta tell you,
that was the thrill of my career,
and I mean that sincerely.
To be invited to come back to my alma
mater and speak at CU Boulder back in May,
30,000 people. I mean,
it was a little nerve wracking and
but thankfully it was a beautiful day.
It wasn't snowing on us.
My message was really that
I had kind of a bigger,
broader message that we as a
society have got to start listening
to each other, right?
We've got to give each other
the benefit of the doubt,
not assume the worst of each other,
assume the best of each other.
As journalists,
we have to listen to all sides,
not just one side of the other,
but all sides,
and come to it with an open mind.
The biggest mistakes I've ever
made in in my career have been
when I assumed I knew something,
whether it was a fact or could even be
a spelling or more or a simple math.
And I was wrong because I assumed and
I try to take that open mind and every
conversation and in every interview,
there's always a chance to learn
something from somebody else and
and try to present all sides.
Fairly as possible.
But we as a society have gotta start
doing that and stop being so committed
and so convinced that the other guy,
because he or she may be in
another political party,
that they're the enemy.
I don't think so.
I I think Americans look out for each
other and stand up for each other.
And and when we start believing we're
the enemy, then we're in trouble.
We're not the enemy.
We are our neighbors and our
friends and our relatives.
When you say it that way,
it's interesting about listening
to people because never before
has it been more easy to be hurt.
Anybody has a chance to tweet
or to to speak and be heard,
but you also have that
same opportunity to listen.
When you and I were working in
The Newsroom here back,
you know, 30 years ago,
it was one of those things where
very few people would take time
to call in or send a letter.
To let us know what they feel now.
People let you know what
they feel right away,
and you should listen.
I gotta say it's it's valuable.
It keeps me honest. You know,
none of us is above making a mistake.
And so when somebody tweets at me,
hey, you messed up.
Or, hey, you might want to consider this too.
I appreciate that you don't
need to use four letter words,
but I appreciate the fact that somebody's
trying to set me straight or give me,
you know, give me the right
perspective or their perspective.
And, you know,
many times I thought that's probably true.
Maybe I can incorporate that the next
time I do this story, I'll listen.
I think, you know,
we're not the voice of God.
We are literally trying to present.
All sides of the news as best
we can every single day.
And the reason that we're
celebrating 9 news is because,
boy, there are very few stations
in the country that do it,
as well as K USA in Denver.
And you can ask anybody in this newsroom,
they know the reputation of
Nine News in Denver and it is
known around the country.
Well, on behalf of the many who came
before us and the many who are still here,
thanks for saying that.
It's always good to visit with you, Tom.
We'll see you when you get back to Colorado.
Thanks for taking some time
to visit with all of us today.
OK, buddy, congratulations and
happy birthday to channel 9.