Josh Hinkle

What's your name?
Josh Hinkle

What's your position?
Hill Country Reporter / Multi-platform Journalist/ Blogger (See link below)

When did you start at KXAN?
April 6, 2009

What was your most memorable story?
The Iowa floods of 2008. My previous station in Cedar Rapids was five blocks away from the Cedar River. The water rose within a few yards of our doorway. It destroyed more than 5,000 homes and businesses. Yet the stories that stick out most in my mind are those that showed the perseverance and resilience of the residents there. People who had lost everything were helping their neighbors in any way they could. Volunteers worked for months picking up the pieces. The story will, no doubt, continue to play out for years to come, as the city and the rest of eastern Iowa rebuilds.

How did you get started in TV?
As a kid, I had big dreams of heading to Mars someday. I went to space camp every summer and pasted constellation maps all over my bedroom. When senior year of high school came around, one of the requirements for soon-to-be graduates involved a job shadow project. Tracking down an astronaut in Oklahoma wasn't the easiest thing. Through various extracurricular activities, I had connected with Cherokee Ballard, dubbed the nation's only female Native American anchor, at the time. Thinking she had an interesting job, I called her station, KOCO, in Oklahoma City, and asked to tag along. That experience mixed with my love for writing, thus launching my career as a journalist.

Where did you go to college?
Oklahoma State University – Bachelor of Arts in Journalism & Broadcasting/Spanish University of Missouri – Master of Arts in Broadcast Journalism/Public Policy

What's your hometown?
Wynnewood, Oklahoma

What's your favorite thing about Austin/Hill Country?
I love being able to be outside for extended periods. Iowa was a great place to live, but you had to do a lot of it indoors. Negative 56 degree wind chills don’t allow for much. When I moved in early April 2009 from Cedar Rapids to Texas, snow was still falling. There are so many things to experience and enjoy here from outdoor dining to hikes around the lake. Ask me this question again in the dead of summer.

What's your guilty pleasure?
I hate for this to come off sounding like an advertisement, but one of the biggest draws to moving to Marble Falls, Texas, was definitely the pie at the Blue Bonnet Café. The meringue on my first slice was seriously six inches high. I can’t decide between coconut crème and chocolate meringue though as my favorite. It is possible to have two guilty pleasures? Apparently, a lot of people have gotten acquainted with this obsession during the restaurant’s 80 years in business. When I tell others where I live, that’s where their minds always goes first, salivating from that mere mention.

How would you like to make a difference?
By telling stories, I think making a difference is very possible. It’s the basic function of a journalist to keep viewers or readers informed. But I think stories can also inspire people to take action or even affect them emotionally. These are not my stories but instead the ones I tell about the people or situations going on in life. I just want to share that.

What's your favorite band or musician?
This is a tough question, because I have so many genres of interest. I think I respond the most to music from the 80s. True, I was just a kid when this decade roared by, strangely fashioned as it was. But it’s the time when I discovered music, gravitating mostly toward the typical pop styling. It just makes me feel good and remember fun times. Everything but Weird Al.

What's your favorite movie?
I have seen so many movies over the years that my body is now in popcorn withdrawal. But, again, the 80s call the loudest. And narrowing down a favorite is impossible. Fun movies that remind me of being a kid. Couch curling flicks, the ones you can recite the script by heart. Goonies. Adventures in Babysitting. Back to the Future.

What's your favorite TV show?
Without a doubt, 24. However, I can’t watch Jack Bauer’s antics before bed, because I become suspicious of what’s outside my window and what I could use as a weapon to defend myself. I wonder if they make an alarm clock with that 24 ticker noise at the beginning and ending of each commercial segment. You know, doot, doot, doot, doot.

What's your favorite food?
If salsa can be considered a stand-alone food, please pump it directly into my veins.

Follow Josh on Twitter. Or email him. You can also check out his “ Living Off The Air” multi-media blog .