How do you replace someone who’s been at KSAT for 44 years?
No. Just say “Thank you.”
Dale Keller and I have known each other for a long time. He’s been here since my first day and I still remember my first day as an intern being, as he calls it, a “bad boy.”
He was then offered a full-time position, which took him all over the country and Mexico covering news and sports for KSAT. Keller even traveled to Rome to cover the events leading up to Pope John Paul IV’s visit to San Antonio. Keller has covered some major events in his 50 years at KSAT.
His work as a photojournalist has earned him awards and accolades. He’s covered political conventions, Spurs championships and countless investigative reports. He’s witnessed history through the lens of a KSAT camera. Dale and I have become friends and seen each other work through some of our most intense and incredible moments, so I was curious to know what story he’s most remembered for.
“I knew that question would come up, but I don’t know if I have that question. People stories have always been my favorite. I go into people’s homes and I tell them stories about their lives and the problems they have, the struggles they have, or maybe I help them solve their problems,” Keller said. “You and I have done two homeless stories. And getting to know these people. Before, you would drive by and see people on the street and have a different opinion. But once you get in there and you’re on the street with them, you see that they have personalities. They have their own stories to tell. So a lot of times we do a story, but it’s the story of the day and it goes away. But that story actually woke up some powerful people in this city and actually made a difference. We planted that seed in them and we spread it.”
Making a difference is what every journalist strives to achieve, and I believe that the reporting that Dale Keller and I did on the homeless situation in San Antonio did, in fact, make an impact.
After watching the special, the then-chairman and CEO of Valero Energy called then-Mayor Phil Hardberger and partnered with former San Antonio City Council Member Patty Radle to create a 24-hour homeless shelter in San Antonio, which led to the creation of Haven for Hope.
Dale and I worked together on the 2016 Republican and Democratic conventions, helping people through storytelling, and we also organized another homelessness feature a few years ago.
Dale puts his heart into his work and it shows in the final product.
“When you work in this industry long enough, you become grateful for all the people you’ve met in your life. Some of them I met in bad circumstances, some of them I met in good circumstances, but they all had an impact on me. I’ve seen the worst of society so many times. But I’ve also seen the best, and that’s something you don’t see in every job,” Keller said.
He also has no plans to retire from camera work, and plans to work as a freelancer after leaving KSAT.
The work continues, just done differently — on his own schedule, rather than the deadlines and long hours that a newsroom demands. After 44 years, he richly deserves it.
“I want to thank the station for inviting this bad boy and giving him a chance, and I’m grateful for all the people who come in and out of my life in this job, because there’s no other job where you get to see history being made.”
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