In October of 1975, KGO and Rigo Chacon covered the story of my birth. I am a twin. When we were born, my twin brother and I were the second largest set of twins born in US history. Our story also appeared in the San Jose Mercury News.
I grew up in Oakland and this was the powerhouse. The go-to place for news and information. The TV was always on Channel 7. ABC's local stations did it right and I believe KGO did it best out of all of them (and people in every city speak highly of their "Channel 7") but KGO was the best.
Did you know Christine Lund was a reporter on this channel in the first 2 years of the 70s before becoming a legend at KABC Los Angeles. Maury Povich anchored at 5pm on this channel in the last 2 years of the 70s long before Current Affair and who's the father.
Van Amburg , Jerry Jensen and David Louie were pioneers of television news reporting. Back in the days when stations reported the news, instead of rendering their personal opinions... giving their "interpretation" of what the news is. Objectivity is lost in today's news.
I was there during those years watching Van Amburg & Jerry Jensen deliver the news each afternoon when my last class dismissed in middle school. I was glued to the news each day and remember when AIDS was first reported. I was saddened when Jerry Jensen die but then KGO found a great replacement. God, thank you for blessing me to be born in Generation X.
I remember watching Van Amberg, and Jerry Jensen growing up in the San Francisco Bay Area during the 1970's. I remember the theme from the movie Cool Hand Luke which was composed by Lalo Schifrin used in the opening and closing credits. KTVU 2 used Move Closer To Your World from 1971-1974. I remember the time KGO 7 interrupted regular programming to cover the killings of George Moscone and Harvey Milk.
Actually as a little bit-racial girl growing up in San Francisco, Marin and Oakland I yearned to see anyone who looked even a little bit like me....Valerie Coleman was my favorite part about Channel 7 back then. So “quotas” is a derogatory term that meant “inclusion” to me and still does. Good ol’ Van Amberg and Jerry Jensen (and all of them) were part of my childhood but diversity is a San Francisco tradition worth holding on to.
