Once the news bug bites you, you never recover.

Proof? Kent Dana, the longtime Phoenix news anchor, has suffered some health setbacks recently. (Don’t worry, he’s doing much better now.) At one point during his convalescence, he sort of floated in and out of awareness. Clearing the fog, he grew concerned. Over what?

“I’m missing a live shot!”

Dana laughed when he talked about it. He laughs a lot, at himself often as not. He retired in 2011, but obviously news is still on his mind.

“It’s changed a lot,” he said. “I don’t even know if I would fit in with it now. It’s just different. Not to say that it’s not as good. It’s just different.”

Dana, 77, is one of the most popular local news anchors in Phoenix TV history, for a lot of reasons. He worked at three stations, for one thing. He also stuck around in the same market for a long time, for another.

And he was good at what he did, with a distinctive look and voice.

“I had enough makeup that I could stay on the air,” he said.

People still recognize him when he’s out and about.

“It happens a lot,” Dana said. “What’s bizarre to me is I’ll be out in public and I’ll need to shave, I’ll have a horrible shirt on, I’ll look awful, and someone will say, ‘I know that guy.’ But it happens a lot. People are really nice about it, too. They don’t ever intrude on you.

“I don’t mind it. I figure when it’s all over, it’s all over.”

News runs in the Dana family 

It’s not over yet, at least in terms of public recognition. Maybe because he’s not the only Dana people recognize. Son Joe is a reporter for Channel 12 (KPNX).

“It’s amazing how many people, they immediately mention my son,” Dana said. “So he’s doing a good job.”

Kent’s father, also named Joe, was a broadcaster, too. He was not exactly overflowing with advice when Kent went into the business.

“He never said one word, pro or con,” Dana said. “In fact, when I started college I was in accounting. I was going into business, and then I took a class in journalism and I really, really liked it. And I think he had his criticisms that he just kind of held to himself. Like, I see a lot of changes, I think he saw a lot of changes.”

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, evidently. When the younger Joe Dana started working in TV news, Kent kept things low-key.

“He, I think, had that same approach where he didn’t want to push me,” Joe Dana said. “He didn’t try to sway me one way or another. He gave me some warning signs along the way — ‘Look, you’re going to need to know this, be careful about this.’”

Maybe it’s because Kent Dana has to spread his attention.

“The thing about him, he is a proud dad, and he’s just elated at whatever you do,” Joe said. “He has six kids and we all have done completely different things. One’s a graphic designer, one’s in insurance, one’s an attorney, one’s a teacher. He’s just always so happy to see us enjoying our jobs and talking about accomplishments. He’s treated what I’ve done exactly the same as everyone else.”

They call Kent Dana ‘The Pope’

Of course, in reality it’s not the same, as anyone who’s ever even dipped their toe in the news business waters can attest. Kent Dana still gets the itch when big stories break.

“Yeah, when something important is going on, you still have that burning feeling that you want to be a part of it,” he said. “You want to ask certain questions. That’s the thing, and you hope that someone does. That never dies away.”

Dana mentions focus groups a couple of times, and not in a particularly complimentary way.

“I’m not so sure I would do well under the new formats,” he said. “It’s like when you build a newscast, there was no question how we built one. It was the most important story of the day and it went down from there. And now they kind of look at it as what is the most interesting story of the day? I don’t know if I could do that.”

Note: He could. Dana was nothing if not adaptable.

“I started out at Channel 10 (KSAZ) under the tutelage of Bill Close,” he said, “who was the dean of broadcasters in those days. Then I went to (Channel) 12 and then went to (Channel) 5 (KPHO). So I had a chance to work under different systems.”

In doing so he became the latter-day dean. Or maybe something else.

“At Channel 5 they called him ‘The Pope,’” Joe said. “They just considered him the one you go to.”

“It was my divine nature,” Kent Dana said, in a voice that actually sounded like eyes rolling.

Dana pays enough attention to know that the media aren’t held in high regard in a lot of circles. But he’s been around long enough not to worry about it too much.

“I am optimistic,” he said. “I’m not certain as to what form it will take, or what form will rise above the rest. We talk about the internet. I don’t know if that’s the answer. But I think there’s always going to be a place for good local news. That’s not going to change.”

Reach Goodykoontz at [email protected]. Facebook: facebook.com/GoodyOnFilm. Twitter: @goodyk.

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