All Articles

Steve Walker graduated from Iowa State in 1984, launching his career as a broadcast journalist, television host and news producer. He has been a TV news anchor and reporter in San Diego, Seattle, Omaha as well as on national cable television based in New York.

Walker hosted television series for the FX Network, HGTV and MTV Networks. He was an embedded journalist with the U.S. military during the war in Iraq and worked as a field producer in southern California for NBC News. For three years, Walker left television to follow his passion for animals and trained dolphins in California, Mississippi and the Caribbean. He also spent two years at the nation’s largest talent consulting firm, Don Fitzpatrick Associates in San Francisco, advising networks like NBC and CBS during their searches for on-air talent.

In 2007, Walker transitioned to a career in media and public relations, becoming communications director for the San Diego County District Attorney. He currently is responsible for PR strategy, messaging and crisis communications, and serves as a liaison between prosecutors and the media who are covering high-profile criminal court cases. He also provides PR consulting and was the primary point of contact for international media covering a bold conservation project to save the endangered vaquita porpoise in Mexico.

We asked him these five questions:

1. What’s the most useful thing you learned at Iowa State?
I think one of the most useful things anybody hopefully learns during their college years is to appreciate and celebrate the diversity of your fellow students, their varied cultures, backgrounds and viewpoints, and to learn from them.

2. What’s your focus in life right now?
In the not too distant future, I plan to “retire” from my government job. So, my focus is charting a course for the next chapter of my professional life. I’m working on finding something rewarding and interesting, that uses my varied experience and skill set, but also provides me with the freedom and flexibility for a healthy work/life balance.

3. What movie title best describes you and why?
“Anchorman” for obvious reasons. And while I did work as an anchor and reporter in San Diego, hopefully I brought a bit more common sense to the job than Ron Burgundy…!

4. What are you absolutely determined to do in your life?
Be present, travel as much as possible, embrace new experiences and do what I can to enjoy life with my friends and family.

5. Tell us about your proudest moment in your career.
During my assignment as an embedded journalist during the Iraq war, I worked with NBC colleagues from “The Today Show” and filed dozens of stories in challenging circumstances, including securing exclusive interviews with pilots who dropped the first bombs on Baghdad.

Here’s a video sample of some of Walker’s more recent work.

 

Let’s stay in touch!

Update your contact info and never miss what’s happening at Iowa State University and at the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication.