Hello,

Glad you’ve arrived!

I’m Jackson Gerker, an Emmy-winning journalist for KCTV5 News. For the last two years, I’ve been awake while you’re likely asleep — writing the morning news. It’s a career I fell into as a hungry college graduate. That hunger helped land my first journalism job at a newspaper in upstate New York, the Post-Star, as a copy editor. I spent a year and some time there peering over stories, writing headlines, designing newspapers and picking up photography assignments on the side. For a year, this time felt like the true “J-School” experience. I made plenty of mistakes up there, but journalism was becoming a calling.

A cold application to KCTV5 put me in front of the right news director who wanted to take a chance on a kid with, well, no experience in TV — ever.

I landed a 9 a.m. sales and lifestyles show after learning what it takes to succeed in a top 35 market. A few months later was handed the 6 a.m. newscast, KCTV’s flagship morning show. With the help of an incredible group of talent, we’re becoming a growing threat to our competitors, bordering the top station in our market. From a Super Bowl win, the NFL Draft, Ralph Yarl, the Mendon Train derailment, and a World Cup bid so many large news stories have hit our hands.

I spent two years in New York State, four years in Atchison, Kansas and another 18 in St. Louis, or home. That’s what you see above. If I’m not writing the news, its a common sight to see me playing soccer, volleyball, or spending time with loved ones.