KXAN celebrates 20 years with Hadlock

AUSTIN (KXAN) - Robert Hadlock has been a familiar, constant and credible face in Central Texas since 1987.

His first show at News 36

 

For the last 20 years, since 1990, he has been reporting stories here at KXAN -- making him the longest-serving local news anchor in Austin.

Over the years, viewers have watched him anchoring on the news desk and out in the field. He has covered stories from most every local region, but he has also gone looking for stories that touch Central Texans thousands of miles away.

KXAN News 36 Talent Open, copyright 1993

The assignment he calls his most memorable happened in 1998, when Pope John Paul II visited Cuba. Robert spent ten days in Havana taking us places viewers had never seen and introducing us to people we will likely never know.

"Americans in Cuba are a rare sight these days,” Robert said as he walked a busy street in Havana crowded with people. “Everywhere we go in Havana, we expect a crowd of onlookers."

Watching Robert’s coverage from Cuba, viewers got to know the real people of Havana and their living conditions. He visited a cigar factory watching the people who can’t afford the famous Cuban cigars spend long hours making them by hand. He took viewers inside an old tenement building that was literally falling apart, yet Cuban people still lived there.

KXAN News 36 Talent Open 1996

 

Breaking News

Robert has always been that calm, steady local voice when news breaks. Amid all the confusion when terrorists attacked this country on September 11th, 2001, Robert spent hours on the news desk filtering through an enormous amount of information for Central Texans.

When a plane crashed into an IRS office building in Northwest Austin in February of this year, Robert was live on the scene bringing viewers the latest information on how and why it all happened.

When the space shuttle Columbia disintegrated over East Texas on February 1, 2003. He then followed the NASA crews on their search for shuttle debris.

"This little piece marked by two sticks was one of the first found by crew members,” said Robert as he knelt by a small piece of the shuttle in a Sabine County field.

KXAN commercial, 2007

That Personal Touch

In all his years covering the news, Robert has never let viewers forget he is human. He reported from the air in a helicopter after Hurricane Katrina struck, taking us all with him to see Louisiana's devastation up close.

"It's easy to see why Governor Kathleen Blanco is asking the citizens of Louisiana for patience, courage and endurance,” Robert told viewers from inside a helicopter hovering over New Orleans. “They're going to need it for many weeks ahead."

In Austin, when fire damaged St. Theresa's Catholic Church, his own parish, he told the stories of remorse and rebuilding from a very personal perspective.

KXAN Talent Open 2005

 

Behind the Scenes At Work

Robert’s coworkers know him as that "go to" guy when any question comes up about Texas history and politics. He has covered several national political conventions throughout his career and interviewed national and Texas leaders.

He is also the kind of guy who will stop whatever he is doing to listen to the concerns of a coworker.

Simply said, Robert is a very rare breed. In the broadcast journalism industry, a ten year career is a long one. Spending two decades at one television station is almost unheard of.

Thank you, Robert, for spending twenty years at KXAN-TV.

Share your favorite memories of Robert and post a congratulatory comment in the commenting section below.