SPEAKERS

Emmy Award-winning reporter Hank Plante has covered California for three decades for TV stations in San Francisco and Los Angeles. He is on the editorial board of The Desert Sun, a member of Gannett’s USA Today Media Network.

Hank has has worked in broadcasting for stations including KPIX TV (CBS 5) in San Francisco, and in print journalism, including at The Washington Post.

His awards have included several local and national Emmys, as well as the prestigious George Foster Peabody Award — broadcasting's equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize — as part of CBS 5's "AIDS Lifeline" reporting team. He has also been awarded the Pioneer Award at the GLAAD Media Awards, and the James R. Harrison Award from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He was also named “Reporter of the Year” by the Associated Press (APTRA’S “Chris Harris Award”). Hank was inducted into the Emmy Silver Circle by the National Television Academy, which honors individuals who have made a significant contribution to broadcasting. In addition, his work has been singled out for praise by The New York Times and other media.

His experience includes reporting and anchoring at TV stations across the country: KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, KRIV-TV in Houston, KMSP-TV in Minneapolis and WVEC-TV in Norfolk, Virginia and, for 25 years, at KPIX TV in San Francisco. He also served as Assignment Editor at WTTG-TV in Washington, D.C., and News Editor at WRC (NBC) Radio, in Washington D.C.

Hank’s community service has included work with the Human Rights Campaign, the Lambda Legal Defense Fund, GLAAD, Project Open Hand, and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation.

Prior to his broadcasting career, Hank worked in print journalism in Washington, D.C. at the Sentinel Newspapers, where he was Managing Editor, and at The Washington Post, where he worked on the City Desk.

Hank lives in Palm Springs with his husband, Roger Groth, who is an artist.

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