King

King tells the dramatic story of how Dorothy Bullitt built a great company and used it to influence the largest city of the Pacific Northwest. Far from the media capital of New York City, Bullitt and the employees of her King Broadcasting Company were free to invent local television and use its command of a vast audience to define and shape public issues during Seattle's staggering growth and transformation after World War II. Starting in 1951 with a clumsy 15-minute news program, KING-TV soon added passionately committed journalists and gave them extraordinary freedom. KING's journalists attacked Seattle's powerful politicians, prodded its inept public agencies, and chided its provincial attitudes, winning a host of national awards in the process. Their activist agenda and confident, aggressive style created controversy, both within the community and within the company. In this independent account, author Casey Corr traces the origins and growth of the company's public spirit and follows KING's coverage of many fascinating stories of postwar Seattle, including McCarthyism in Seattle politics; Bullitt family friendships with Senators Henry Jackson and Warren Magnuson; the rise and fall of Republican Party leader Charles O. Carroll; the assassination of civil rights leader Edwin Pratt; the mayoral campaign of KING commentator Charles Royer; and the secret struggle within the Seattle news media to expose a corrupt judge.