January 29, 2026 • 6 mins
If you've ever felt like your career was an accident, you will no doubt relate to Hal Eisner. The long time Southern California award winning television journalist talks with Veronica Carter and Bret Burkhart about his broadcast journey he writes about in his new book, "An Accidental Career: : My 58-Year Adventure as a Broadcast News Reporter"
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Southern Californians will no doubt know the name Hal Eisner,
who has graced your TV here in San Diego for decades,
has correspondent on Fox five. He's a decades long TV
journalist who's covered major national stories for CNN, LA riots,
OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson trials, and even became part
of the story himself.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Reporter Hall Eisner a photographer Joel Perez sat down with
me to talk about that horrific day.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's been a tough journey. It's been a very physical journey,
and it's been a very frightening journey.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
But after decades he is hanging up the mic and
calling his career an accident.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Joining us on the Coco News lifeline is award winning
broadcast journalist and author of An Accidental Career, My fifty
eight Year Adventure. Is a broadcast news reporter Hal Eisner,
who is a good friend of mine and I've served
on a board with him. And how thank you for
joining us, Congratulations in the book, congratulations on retirement. And
(00:58):
first off, how are you feeling after that accident?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, you know what I'm feeling. I'm feeling well and brat.
I just have two words for it, you rock got
under samples. Those are two words I've always said to
Brett burkhard are going as I've known this man, wonderful guy.
And you know, I feel good, Brett. I'm you know,
I retired here in twenty five. I got really you know,
(01:25):
into this book in the last couple of years. And
what happened on the street where we got hit by
a driver under the influence. He jumped the curb and
hit me, my cameraman, several tourists and went into the
glass window of a market right there across from the
Chinese Theater. And when that happened on the nineteenth of
(01:48):
March and twenty twenty one, it was the worst possible
day you can imagine. Fractured ribs, fractured me. I mean,
the injuries for everybody, not just me, were horrific. Officers
saying we could have been killed in that kind of
a wreck. It was somebody who jumped the curve at
forty miles an hour and just hit us like bulling pins.
(02:09):
And you know, we were out of commission for quite
a while, came back, came back to work and managed
to get through and do well and put all that
behind us, and you know, it's been a great career
of breadth and both of you. I just can't tell
you how gratifying it is that today is the day
(02:30):
that this book is being released, this is the publishing take.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh congratulations. You know I would I would think that
it put life in perspective for you. You know, you're
doing your job. You love your job, but it's a
job still and you almost die over it. Maybe that
kind of made you start thinking, you know, maybe I
can retire and take life a little easy, right, No,
not really.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I mean I had worked, I had worked a very
long time, and I wasn't going to let somebody who
was behind the wheel of a car under the influence
and my career. That was something I was going to
do on my own. And so when that happened, I
have to tell you that social media blew up. The
viewers in this market called and they texted, and they
(03:18):
facebooked and they instagrammed, And I had never seen a
response like that from the public showing their car and
concern for job. Res my photographer that day and myself,
it really caused me to want to get back in
front of a camera, to want to get out and
show that I was going to be okay and to
(03:38):
put my time in that I still wanted to put
in and retire on my terms, not the terms of
somebody who recklessly was behind the wheel.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
We are speaking with long time award winning broadcast journalist
Hal Eisner from KTTV Fox eleven and KCP Channel thirteen,
Los Angeles. But you know, I used to travel the
country and which you all over the place, and that
was inspiring for me, especially since you were so passionate
about reporting news. Let me ask you this because I
(04:09):
think it's the cruxt of your book, and that is
why do you call it an accidental career?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, it's because I got into it quite by accident.
I was in high school. I was a saxophone player
in the marching band, and local radio station KLi F
in Dallas had a contest and the contest was send
in a postcard tell us why you want to report
your high school football score on Friday night. I thought
it was a great thing that would be fun, and
I sent in a postcard. They actually pulled my car
(04:37):
out of the raffle box and I won. And because
of that, there was a detour in what I thought
my career was going to be. When I grew up,
I thought I was going to be a lawyer, but
instead I ended up in the broadcast lane. And when
I went out to college, I got a couple of
side jobs for date money, and I found myself at
(04:59):
a TV station behind the scenes and a radio station
behind the scenes. And I started to realize that broadcasting
was pulling me in. And as it pulled me in,
I got very excited. I changed colleges. I went to
the University of Houston. I went to their communications department,
and I got knee deep into this career. And the
more I got into it, the more I realized the
(05:21):
importance of it, the significance of it, and the importance
of what we do every day of the week and
giving people information and helping guide them on what's going
on in our communities.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
We are so glad that it pulled you in. How
you've been an inspiration to a lot of people. Thank
you so much, and good luck with the book. Yeah,
and you're right right, that rock.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Both, and have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
No no, no, no, no no no, you can't get away
that quickly. Uh you rock? Oh you and I have
spent many many late nights together putting together awards ceremonies.
But your boot camps were legendary. I just want to
say this as we go out. You're a huge inspiration
for so many news broadcasters who would go on to
greatness thanks in the effort you put into the Associated Press.
(06:04):
The reporter training boot camps he would put on were
just absolutely amazing and taught people at boots on the
ground and they went on to amazing careers. And you
have Hal Eisner to think. Hal, thank you so much, Thank.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You so much, and thank you for those nice words.
Have a great day, everybody, all right, you rock, all right.
Take care
Southern Californians will no doubt know the name Hal Eisner,
who has graced your TV here in San Diego for decades,
has correspondent on Fox five. He's a decades long TV
journalist who's covered major national stories for CNN, LA riots,
OJ Simpson and Michael Jackson trials, and even became part
of the story himself.
Speaker 2 (00:19):
Reporter Hall Eisner a photographer Joel Perez sat down with
me to talk about that horrific day.
Speaker 3 (00:25):
It's been a tough journey. It's been a very physical journey,
and it's been a very frightening journey.
Speaker 1 (00:31):
But after decades he is hanging up the mic and
calling his career an accident.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
Joining us on the Coco News lifeline is award winning
broadcast journalist and author of An Accidental Career, My fifty
eight Year Adventure. Is a broadcast news reporter Hal Eisner,
who is a good friend of mine and I've served
on a board with him. And how thank you for
joining us, Congratulations in the book, congratulations on retirement. And
(00:58):
first off, how are you feeling after that accident?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
Well, you know what I'm feeling. I'm feeling well and brat.
I just have two words for it, you rock got
under samples. Those are two words I've always said to
Brett burkhard are going as I've known this man, wonderful guy.
And you know, I feel good, Brett. I'm you know,
I retired here in twenty five. I got really you know,
(01:25):
into this book in the last couple of years. And
what happened on the street where we got hit by
a driver under the influence. He jumped the curb and
hit me, my cameraman, several tourists and went into the
glass window of a market right there across from the
Chinese Theater. And when that happened on the nineteenth of
(01:48):
March and twenty twenty one, it was the worst possible
day you can imagine. Fractured ribs, fractured me. I mean,
the injuries for everybody, not just me, were horrific. Officers
saying we could have been killed in that kind of
a wreck. It was somebody who jumped the curve at
forty miles an hour and just hit us like bulling pins.
(02:09):
And you know, we were out of commission for quite
a while, came back, came back to work and managed
to get through and do well and put all that
behind us, and you know, it's been a great career
of breadth and both of you. I just can't tell
you how gratifying it is that today is the day
(02:30):
that this book is being released, this is the publishing take.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Oh congratulations. You know I would I would think that
it put life in perspective for you. You know, you're
doing your job. You love your job, but it's a
job still and you almost die over it. Maybe that
kind of made you start thinking, you know, maybe I
can retire and take life a little easy, right, No,
not really.
Speaker 3 (02:54):
I mean I had worked, I had worked a very
long time, and I wasn't going to let somebody who
was behind the wheel of a car under the influence
and my career. That was something I was going to
do on my own. And so when that happened, I
have to tell you that social media blew up. The
viewers in this market called and they texted, and they
(03:18):
facebooked and they instagrammed, And I had never seen a
response like that from the public showing their car and
concern for job. Res my photographer that day and myself,
it really caused me to want to get back in
front of a camera, to want to get out and
show that I was going to be okay and to
(03:38):
put my time in that I still wanted to put
in and retire on my terms, not the terms of
somebody who recklessly was behind the wheel.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
We are speaking with long time award winning broadcast journalist
Hal Eisner from KTTV Fox eleven and KCP Channel thirteen,
Los Angeles. But you know, I used to travel the
country and which you all over the place, and that
was inspiring for me, especially since you were so passionate
about reporting news. Let me ask you this because I
(04:09):
think it's the cruxt of your book, and that is
why do you call it an accidental career?
Speaker 3 (04:15):
Well, it's because I got into it quite by accident.
I was in high school. I was a saxophone player
in the marching band, and local radio station KLi F
in Dallas had a contest and the contest was send
in a postcard tell us why you want to report
your high school football score on Friday night. I thought
it was a great thing that would be fun, and
I sent in a postcard. They actually pulled my car
(04:37):
out of the raffle box and I won. And because
of that, there was a detour in what I thought
my career was going to be. When I grew up,
I thought I was going to be a lawyer, but
instead I ended up in the broadcast lane. And when
I went out to college, I got a couple of
side jobs for date money, and I found myself at
(04:59):
a TV station behind the scenes and a radio station
behind the scenes. And I started to realize that broadcasting
was pulling me in. And as it pulled me in,
I got very excited. I changed colleges. I went to
the University of Houston. I went to their communications department,
and I got knee deep into this career. And the
more I got into it, the more I realized the
(05:21):
importance of it, the significance of it, and the importance
of what we do every day of the week and
giving people information and helping guide them on what's going
on in our communities.
Speaker 1 (05:31):
We are so glad that it pulled you in. How
you've been an inspiration to a lot of people. Thank
you so much, and good luck with the book. Yeah,
and you're right right, that rock.
Speaker 3 (05:40):
Both, and have a wonderful day.
Speaker 2 (05:42):
No no, no, no, no no no, you can't get away
that quickly. Uh you rock? Oh you and I have
spent many many late nights together putting together awards ceremonies.
But your boot camps were legendary. I just want to
say this as we go out. You're a huge inspiration
for so many news broadcasters who would go on to
greatness thanks in the effort you put into the Associated Press.
(06:04):
The reporter training boot camps he would put on were
just absolutely amazing and taught people at boots on the
ground and they went on to amazing careers. And you
have Hal Eisner to think. Hal, thank you so much, Thank.
Speaker 3 (06:17):
You so much, and thank you for those nice words.
Have a great day, everybody, all right, you rock, all right.
Take care
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