Ask KSAT 12 anchorman Steve Spriester to tell you about himself and he'll say that he's someone "not that far-removed from how his viewers live their lives."

KSAT 12 News Director Jim Boyle characterizes Steve as "a terrific anchor and an aggressive reporter with great ties to the community and excellent sources, which come from credibility and a lot of hard work."

But most of all, Steve is a man who cares a great deal about his job because he cares a great deal about people.

Steve said part of his job is to bring his viewers the stories they want, need and ought to know about. He said he is especially drawn to the immediacy of TV news.

"If something's happening right now, we can take the viewer there," he said.

One example of this is KSAT 12's coverage of the November 1999 Texas A & M University Bonfire tragedy live from the Bonfire site. Immediately upon learning of the incident in the wee hours of the morning, KSAT 12 dispatched a news crew, which included anchor/reporter Steve, to the College Station campus, where he co-anchored that evening's 6 p.m. newscast live via satellite.

While the notion of doing a live broadcast each night is exciting, ("working without a net," as he describes it), Steve recognizes his job comes with a heavy responsibility.

"My job as a journalist is to remain impartial," Steve said. "To lay out both sides of a story and let the person at home decide what to think."

Steve also believes it is important to present the news in a way that looks deeper into a story than what merely seems to be going on on the surface. And he believes that KSAT 12 has a huge advantage when it comes to getting to the heart of a story.

"Our team of reporters, especially Paul Venema, Jessie Degollado, Marilyn Moritz, and Angela Vierville, have been in this community so long, they know the history behind a story and exactly who to talk to when we want to get to the bottom of it. I'd put our reporters against anyone," he said. "People remember the stories they see on the news. It's up to us to give them the total picture."

Steve wears two hats at KSAT 12. As a news anchor, he sees his job as one of keeping people informed, so he feels it is important for him to have a sense of many different stories. He understands that trust is critical to the success of any journalist, especially a television news anchor.

"An anchor can't hide his or her personality once the camera turns on," he said. "People at home sense that."

As a member of KSAT 12's I-Team of investigative reporters, Steve tries to stay true to the station's credo of "Live, Local, Latebreaking." He explains that the I-Team tries to help people who have run out of faith in the system by responding to situations when others won't.

For instance, the I-Team brought to the public's attention allegations of possible unethical ties between local judges and certain court-appointed attorneys. Its "Nasty Neighbors" segments have brought to light numerous boarded-up vacant houses, which had been the sites of a variety of illicit activities. Thanks to the I-Team's coverage, a number of those houses have since been demolished.

But perhaps most notably, the KSAT 12 I-Team recently broke the story regarding the questionable affiliation between Yanaguana Cruises and Dreamland Photography. "We try to do stories that get people to do what's right," Steve said.

One of Steve's favorite assignments is his "Spriester's People" segments, an up-close look at some of San Antonio's most interesting but perhaps least known citizens - ordinary people doing ordinary things in extraordinary ways.

"Spriester's People" helps Steve maintain his and KSAT 12's "real connection to San Antonio and the people who live here."

It also is a point which lies at the heart of the station's overall philosophy of news coverage, he said.

You can E-mail Steve at sspriester@ksat.com.

Steve Spriester anchors the news on KSAT 12 (Time Warner Cable Channel 13) Monday through Friday at 5, 6, and 10 p.m. KSAT 12, owned and operated by Post/Newsweek, is the San Antonio affiliate for ABC-TV. The station airs live news, weather and sports broadcasts at 5 a.m., noon and 5, 6 and 10 p.m. KSAT 12 also owns and operates LATV, which can be viewed on KSAT Digital 12.2, or Time Warner Cable Channel 81, GVTC Cable Channel 165 and Grande Communications Channel 189.

Its call letters, KSAT, stand for San Antonio, Texas and symbolize the station's commitment to the people of San Antonio as the local resource for fair, accurate reporting and a means by which residents have a voice with which to be heard.

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