Austin Reed was the evening news anchor at ABC affiliates KVEW (Kennewick/Tri-Cities) and KAPP (Yakima), branded as Apple Valley News NOW. He joined the Morgan Murphy Media stations in 2024 and anchors weeknights at 5, 6, and 11 alongside Wendi Redman and Stacy Lee.
He grew up in the Portland area and started unusually early. As a child he built a homemade newsroom in his parents’ basement; local TV covered it, and he later worked as a “junior reporter.” By about age 13 he was producing and anchoring a live weekly public-access show, Rose City News, which Comcast later syndicated in parts of the Pacific Northwest. While still in high school he was hired as a paid reporter at Fox affiliate KPTV (reportedly the youngest paid news reporter at Meredith Communications at the time) and also DJed on KVMX-FM. He interned at KEZI in Eugene as well.
After a brief attempt at acting in New York in his early 20s, he returned to news as a reporter at KOB-TV (NBC) in Albuquerque. Over the following years he worked as an anchor, reporter, producer, and newsroom manager in several markets, including Medford, Oregon; Fayetteville, Arkansas; Charleston, West Virginia; Fresno, California; and Monterey Bay (where around 2016 he was director of television services for ZBS and station manager of MeTV Monterey Bay). In Fresno he also hosted a combined radio/TV classic-rock program, On Air with Austin Reed, on KKDJ / channel 27.1, and later appeared on MyTV53 news. His station bio describes more than 20 years across TV and radio as reporter, photographer, editor, producer, manager, and anchor.
At Apple Valley News NOW he has covered local breaking news and investigative stories, including neighborhood opposition to a proposed Level 3 sex-offender housing site in Kennewick—a story the station broke and followed until the plan was dropped. He also emcees community events (Cystic Fibrosis Great Strides walks, humane-society galas, fun runs) and is open about living with cystic fibrosis, which he was diagnosed with as a young child.
Reed was the main evening anchor at KAPP/KVEW for almost 3 years and recently left the station.
