Dennis Owens performs at Hershey Symphony Orchestra’s holiday show.
Straightforward. Genuine. Transparent.
He wears his heart on his sleeve. And with Dennis Owens, what you see is always what you get.
Still, one can’t help but think that there’s something more going on below the surface, that there’s a deeper level to Owens’ persona. Perhaps it’s simply enough to say that there’s a public Dennis Owens and a private one.
“I do struggle with work-life balance,” he said. “I feel very secure at work, but sometimes struggle with my life at home. If I’m open and honest, it builds trust. The private Dennis is an assistant coach for a seventh- and eighth-grade basketball team.”
That transparency is the common thread woven throughout the fabric of Owens’ 30-plus-year television journalism career. That, and a nature that seems to put him on the side of the little guy.
“I am fascinated by the fact that good people occasionally do bad things,” Owens said. “There are also bad people who occasionally do good things. I do gravitate towards those types of stories. I am genuinely curious about people. I like to meet new people.”
It almost seems redundant to say that Dennis Owens is the 6 o’clock news anchor and the Capitol reporter for ABC27, simply because nearly everyone knows who he is.
“Most people don’t care about state politics,” he said. “I want to tell you why you should care, and I want to take complex issues, boil them down and explain why it should matter. If you’re not angry, you’re not paying attention. State politics is important.”
Creative Side
Owens grew up in an Irish Catholic family in northeast Philadelphia in the 1970s and ‘80s where the talk around the dinner table usually revolved around sports and politics.
In the early 1990s, he came to Harrisburg from Bakersfield, Calif., where he was the sports director at KGET. He started out as a weekend sports anchor under the late Gregg Mace, before his career path took an unexpected exit into news, politics and features in 1999.
“Sports is known as the candy store of any news operation, but I got fascinated with the journalism side,” said Owens, 61. “Switching to the journalism side has not only piqued my interest, but it’s also kept my curiosity. As I’ve applied that to the state Capitol, it was just a win-win.”
The station explored Owens’ creative side with his man-on-the-street turn on “Live at Five” and with his current show, “This Week in PA,” a weekly 30-minute wrap of the political comings and goings in Harrisburg.
“Our viewers can see that Dennis is competent, works hard and does a great job,” said Alicia Richards, Owens’ co-anchor. “The bottom line is you’ve got to be interested in people, and Dennis is interested in people.”
Owens’ personal story is one of personal growth and serving the Harrisburg community, with just a hint of destiny sprinkled in.
“The way the path usually works for people in my field, you come to a place like Harrisburg for two years and you move on to something usually bigger,” Owens said. “But because I was getting challenged and advancing within, I was content going up the inside of the silo instead of looking for another farm.”
Unique Perspective
Throughout his career, Owens has covered stories big and small.
He has interviewed Muhammad Ali and broke the 1997 story that led to then-Penn State running back Curtis Enis being declared ineligible for the Citrus Bowl. He covered the Pennsylvania General Assembly’s early morning pay raise of 2005 and helped bring to light electric companies’ practices of price spikes after the polar vortex in 2014.
“I do recognize I have this wide knowledge of state politics,” said Owens, the winner of 15 Emmy awards. “It’s my job to keep people informed. Sometimes, I’m doing a story that no one else is doing, and I’m wondering why. I like to joke that I’m not partisan—I dislike both parties equally.”
Owens’ experience and expertise provides him with a unique perspective on Pennsylvania politics and the Keystone State’s role in national issues.
“Almost everyone I meet in state politics is a good person who wants to do good things,” said Owens. “But it’s broken because of partisanship, and that’s true of the entire country. We are the largest of the battleground states, and I think the (presidential) candidates think Pennsylvania is in play. When the presidential election comes around, I’m going to cover my eyes, but I can’t help but look.”
When you give everything you have all the time, eventually the tank empties, the well dries. But, in his early 60s, Owens remains energized, ready to head into yet another presidential election cycle.
“What I love about it is that I’m doing something different almost every day,” he said. “That certainly keeps the job fresh, and when you’ve been there 30 years, you’ve got to keep it fresh.”
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