Stephen Dean joins WRTV Indianapolis

To contact us Click HERE
The last time we heard from former KPRC 2 investigative reporter Stephen Dean, he had just resigned from WSYX 6 in Columbus, Ohio citing journalistic ethics issues.

But you don't have to worry about this Peabody Award winning journalist's employment, because he just got a new investigative job.

Dean's new station is E. W. Scripps owned WRTV in Indianapolis, Indiana (TV market #26). In those parts the station is known as RTV6.

WRTV is run by former KPRC 2 general manager Larry Blackerby. Blackerby left Houston in 2011 for Indianapolis.

"I admired his management style and his careful and methodical approach to decision making at Local 2, and I had always hoped I’d get to work with him again," Dean told mikemcguff.com. "Most of us at Local 2 felt like he was the best GM we could have ever worked for. Morale was at an all-time high when he was there."

Dean and his wife, Cindy, are happy they get to stay close to their hometown of Columbus. When he left Houston for Columbus, Dean told me it was his dream to return to his hometown.

"When my original effort to head home to Columbus exploded in flames, I was humbled to get a couple other offers presented to me within 24-hours of word hitting your page and other industry sites," Dean told me. "While staying in Houston was an appealing thought, it was never really in the cards."

Dean says when he was thinking about leaving KPRC to get closer to home, Blackerby was his first phone call. He says there wasn't an opportunity at that point, but Blackerby recently focused on building the station's investigative unit.

"The station also has some of the ratings challenges that faced Local 2, and I admire Larry’s plan of attack and I’m ready to be a part of it," Dean said. "Larry knows what I bring to the table from his years at Local 2, and he wants the kind of journalism that I’m best at for his station.

"I did the best work of my 28-year career at Local 2, and all I’ve wanted to do is continue what I had built when I was having the most fun in Houston. Now here’s the guy who was in charge of the station during that time, so I get to go back to serious digging and compelling journalism."

Dean starts at RTV6 later this month.