Steve Cohen grew up on a street in Philadelphia that was twenty feet wide, lined with thirty-six rowhouses on each side. That was his world, and he will tell you that everything he has become in the fifty years since was already there on that block: the camaraderie, the listening, the willingness to stand for something and take what comes next. What came next, for a young Jewish boy in postwar Philadelphia, was often a fight. Not a figurative one. A real one. Steve spent a good portion of his early years physically defending himself and his community, learning in the most visceral way possible what it means to believe in something enough to put yourself on the line for it. That street kid never left him. He just learned, over decades, to channel the same spirit into something more effective than a punch. For fifty years, Steve Cohen worked as a television journalist, moving from the neighborhood streets of Philadelphia into the newsrooms and boardrooms of New York, Los Angeles, Boston, and Detroit, arriving in the places where the world was changing and finding his mission in explaining it to the people he served. He was, in his own words, the interlocutor between what was happening out there and the people trying to make sense of it. He describes that as one of the most humbling gifts he can imagine, a hand on the shoulder from something larger than himself, a calling that was not chosen so much as recognized. Along the way, he recognized something similar in others. He sat with a young Bill O'Reilly in Boston and told him New York was waiting. He reached a young reporter named Meredith Vieira in Providence and helped her see that her aspirations could be larger than where she was. He sat at an Italian restaurant with a twenty-three-year-old radio journalist named Lester Holt, watched him discover chicken parmesan for what may have been the first time, and found the opening that would eventually bring Holt into television. Steve's gift, the one that threads through all of those stories, is knowing that the door to who someone really is can be opened by almost anything. Sometimes it is a conversation about purpose. Sometimes it is a plate of pasta. He is now seventy-nine years old, living in San Diego, and running for the United States Congress. When Steve talks about where his sense of service comes from, he tells about his father Morris, a World War II veteran who fought with Merrill's Marauders in Burma, one of the most brutal behind-the-lines campaigns of the war. He was given the gift of life by this man who survived when most of his brothers in arms did not, and he has understood from a very young age that this is not something you set down or outgrow. You carry it. You honor it. You try to be worth it. That, Steve Cohen says, is the whole story. BIO: Steve Cohen, a revered figure in television journalism, marked his 50th year last year in 2023 as a news chief. His distinguished career includes key roles across major markets, such as WCBS, KCBS, KCOP, KUSI, WNAC, WXYZ. Steve's leadership journey saw him as VP/President/GM at WCAU, KTVX, and WGRZ. He currently offers media insight for his MediaWiseGuy Consulting, offering comprehensive guidance on crisis management, speech writing, and organizational dynamics in media. Steve’s work through the years has consisted of establishing unique programming and content distribution in the United States, China, Europe and the Mid East. Reflecting on the evolution of media, he emphasizes a return to fact-based reporting and honest dialogue. His memoir, The Newslife: From Arkansas to Aruba, captures his remarkable journey. And is capped by his reflective memoir, 50 years in a Newsroom; A Eulogy. Additional information and more recent press can be found at: https://timesofsandiego.com/business/2023/07/23/marketink-kusis-steve-cohen-on-how-tv-news-has-changed-over-50-years/ Credit: MarketInk: KUSI’s Steve Cohen on How TV News Has Changed Over 50 Years. YouTube: @StoriesAcrossTheTable https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHPeekMqKYjBAwO28gLSvRABridget’s Free Community - Inspired Writers Clubhouse for Writers and Authors: https://www.inspiredwritersclubhouse.comBridget’s Free Newsletter: https://www.yourinspiredstory.com/newsletter Steve’s Free Community: https://www.skool.com/steve-ramona-community-9836Steve’s Free Newsletter: https://doing-business-with-a-servants-heart.kit.com/steveramonaSteve’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steveramona/’Bridget’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mbridgetcookburch/ Steve’s X/Twitter: https://x.com/oppbrokerBridget’s X/Twitter: @inspiritwriter Steve’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bizopportunitynow/Bridget’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bridgetcookburch/ Substack: https://p...
