Covering Communities: Deborah Collura, '83, Leads Journalists In Sacramento
By Tony Scott
Deborah Collura, '83. (Photo: Deborah Collura)
Deborah Collura, ’83, has decades of experience as a broadcast journalism executive at TV stations across the U.S., covering a variety of crucial news stories for the communities where she’s worked and lived. Her love for news and storytelling was nurtured while a student at NIU.
“My NIU experience was amazing,” she said. “There were so many opportunities that helped pave the way for a 40-year career in broadcast television. I was able to write for the Northern Star; I was thrilled when I was given the sports beat. I attended the college basketball games and traveled to the MAC championship with the football team and reported on their success. I worked at the National Public Radio station on campus and reported as well. I covered all media bases with my newspaper writing, radio reporting and broadcasting training.”
Collura currently serves as the president and general manager of CBS-owned and operated stations KOVR and KMAX in Sacramento, California. During her career, she has held a variety of positions leading journalists at stations across the country.
Collura was born and raised in Rockford, Illinois, and is the oldest of three children. Her dad ran a barber shop in town and her mom was an interior designer. It was in her dad’s shop where she discovered she loved to talk to people.
“He and his partner ran the four-chair shop,” she said. “My father was a diehard Packers fan, and his partner was a diehard Bears fan. It made for interesting rivalry discussions, newspaper stories and bets! I hung out at my father’s shop often and loved to interview his customers about their careers.”
Before coming to NIU, Collura loved writing poetry and short stories, as well as photography. She also liked to compete in softball with her sister and was on the debate team in high school.
“I thought I wanted to be a lawyer until I attended NIU and became a part of the broadcast journalism team,” she said.
Collura liked that NIU was affordable, close to home, and had a center for TV broadcasts. The proximity of NIU helped her build a resume for her future success in broadcasting.
“Since NIU was an hour commute to my hometown of Rockford, I continued to work at the Rockford Register Star, Gannett Newspapers and later WREX TV, the NBC affiliate in Rockford,” she said.
The university’s broadcast journalism program helped Collura learn and hone the skills she would need in the workplace.
“The broadcasting center was the best experience for an upcoming broadcast journalist,” she said. “We learned to write, produce, shoot, edit and anchor newscasts. It was challenging and thrilling and gave us a glimpse of what the television business would look like after graduation. It was firsthand training daily with talented teachers and educators.”
She has great memories of Professor Robert LaConto, who taught broadcast journalism at NIU from 1964 until his retirement in 1990.
“He was inspirational in getting me ‘hooked’ on television news,” she said. “Professor LaConto taught us to roll up our sleeves and dive into the business. He taught us how important it is to be curious and to ask the how, what, and why for each story. He pushed us to try all aspects from shooting, producing and anchoring. He told us to keep our passion alive through our storytelling.”
As president and general manager of a network affiliate news station, Collura is the strategic leader in all aspects of broadcast sales, news, multi-platform content and community initiatives.
“I oversee all departments of duopoly,” she said. "“The CBS/KOVR side is an extension of CBS Stations and the network where our mission focuses on content, culture, and community. KMAX is our independent station which prides itself on a daily, four-hour Good Day lifestyle program.“
Collura talked about the challenges of operating a modern news operation.
“The most challenging part of my job today is helping employees navigate through the constant change and evolution of our business,” she said. “As advertising dollars for stations shrink, and fickle audiences turn elsewhere for content, it is critical television stations remain committed to community journalism and relevant coverage of our complicated world. Fragmentation will continue to be an obstacle, so understanding our viewers and what they want is key to our success moving forward.”
She added, “The most rewarding part of my job is collaborating with journalists who are dedicated to sharing stories that impact people’s lives daily and the impact we have on serving our communities.”
During her 40-plus-year career in journalism, she has overseen a wide range of breaking news stories. In addition to her current role in Sacramento, she has held positions at stations in Atlanta; Charlotte, N.C.; Houston; Detroit; Miami; Minneapolis; Albany, N.Y.; and St. Louis. Those roles have landed her and the stations prestigious awards, including several Emmys for investigative reporting, Edward R. Murrow Awards, a George Peabody Award, and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award.
Collura shared her memories of two news events that impacted her and her career.
The first was a hostage crisis that occurred in Sacramento in the early 1990s while Collura was the executive producer at KCRA, the NBC station in Sacramento. In 1991, 41 employees and customers were taken hostage by four gunmen at a Good Guys electronic store in Sacramento. The eight-hour ordeal unfolded on live television, and in the end, six were killed, including three hostages and three of the gunmen; 14 hostages were injured. The hostage crisis remains the largest rescue operation in U.S. history, she said.
“I was in the control room navigating the coverage as four Vietnamese teen immigrants, who were frustrated with life in the U.S., commandeered the dramatic event,” she said. “Media outlets were able to get harrowing video as the situation unfolded live on television. The store’s glass front doors allowed video crews with their cameras to transmit video as events unfolded -- the hostage takers lining up captives in front of the glass entrance as human shields.”
Collura said she learned valuable lessons that day.
“For eight hours, I stayed in the control room producing the live breaking news,” she said. “During that day, I realized the power of live television and of viewers witnessing history being made in real time. I also learned the responsibility I had as the person in the control room making decisions as we were broadcasting live – to be constantly aware of the necessary steps, care and concern we must take as journalists to alert the audience of what they are about to witness, especially that which may be graphic, disturbing and traumatizing. While television needs to inform, it was a real-time lesson in being responsible to our viewers.”
Another impactful story for her was coverage of former Michigan State Representative and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick and his ultimate downfall. Kilpatrick was convicted of multiple felonies and served time in federal prison before being pardoned by President Donald Trump in January 2021. Collura was serving as news director at WDIV in Detroit as the station covered Kilpatrick.
“The uncovering of Kilpatrick’s corruption was the result of investigative journalism and the courage to make the necessary investment to take on a political figure who was abusing power and bilking taxpayers,” she said. “I had to make the decision that we commit enormous resources and time into revealing the story because it was our ethical duty to honor the public's right to know. After much contemplation with our executive team, I decided that we should disclose and make public text messages between Kilpatrick and his mistress, which detailed his abuse of power and infidelity.”
She continued, “This was a difficult decision because even though Kilpatrick was a public political figure who was involved in criminal activity, the ripple effects that it would cause were a source of consideration – his family, including his young children, and the disclosure potentially causing the ruin of his political aspirations. The story gained national attention and we won several awards for our coverage and investigative reporting. Many documentaries have been produced on Kilpatrick’s rise and his subsequent fall.”
Collura's rise has remained constant since her graduation from NIU and its been nothing but good news ever since. She has been a leader and decision-maker in a competitive, intense industry, and she prepared herself for her roles while at NIU. Collura’s proudest moment is when her son Marco told her he wants to follow in her footsteps. He is now preparing to graduate from the University of Georgia with a journalism degree in May 2025.