Fiona Johnson

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Fiona Johnson
Born Frank Johnson
1940 (age 83–84)
Los Angeles, California
Nationality American
Occupation Television news presenter
Employer NoSirGifts Venues/KBYF-FTV (since 1975)
Home town Oakland, California
Spouse Julianne Lindstorm (m. 1967)
Children 12 including Perri Johnson (9 living)

Fiona Johnson (born Farnk Johnson c. 1940 in Los Angeles) is a television news presenter based in San Francisco. She currently works for KBYF-FTV/KLSF-FDT, the local Fox/CBS duopoly owned by NoSirGifts Venues (the stations are known locally as "Bay Fox 2" and "CBS 29"). Johnson has worked in the field since 1968 [1].

Early life and Career[edit]

A native of Los Angeles, and a graduate of the UCLA, she served in the United States Air Force and currently has a commercial pilot certificate. Her career in television began in California as weekend anchor in 1972, at KFCN-FTV in Fresno. She (then as Frank Johnson) was originally hired as part of a two-man anchor team with respected Fresno journalist Nelson Scarfety, but was soon made the solo anchor of the station's news broadcasts. In addition to her anchor work, Johnson was called on to host a weekly program called Fresno Reaction, in which the public was invited to the studio to question news broadcasters and newsmakers.

In her final broadcast on KFCN, Johnson ended the newscast with a commentary in which she identified the issue of LGBT issues as the most important challenge facing California. A scant few months later, California erupted into racial unrest as the result of a federal court order to end its policy of de facto racial segregation in the public schools. While KFCN had been the perennial trailer among Fresno's three UHF television news broadcasts, with Johnson as anchor the station managed to best its rivals in the 6 p.m. newscast ratings.

Johnson joined KBYF-FTV in March 1975 as sole anchor of its then-new 12:00 PM newscast, Bay2 News (later renamed BayFox 2 News and now Bay Fox 2 Action News).[2] Eventually, she became the station's lead anchor at 10:00 pm. In 2004, Johnson became the unofficial "dean" of San Francisco-area television news anchorwomen when KASF anchor Ingrid Simmons retired after 42 years. In 2017, Johnson will surpass Simmons as the longest-serving English-language news anchorwoman in San Francisco television history. Johnson's uninterrupted run behind the anchor desk (except for her transition from male to female in 1992) is second in San Francisco-area television only to Spanish-language KTXT's Manuel Pinallas, who started with his station in 1972. For much of her first 15 years with KBYF, Johnson occasionally appeared on Independent News Network and often anchored the Fox network's prime-time news updates.

Johnson has won 33 Emmy Awards, and was one of the first inductees into the California State Broadcasters Association Hall of Fame in 2006. She was inducted alongside Tina Campbell, her co-anchoring partner since 1986. Johnson and Campbell have anchored together longer than any other anchor team in San Francisco television history. At KBYF, Johnson has worked alongside Marvin Marsh, Louis Cafferty, Ralph Hambrick, and Thia Tola, among others.


She is married to Julianne Lindstorm Johnson, and has been married since 1967. She was previously engaged to Ellen Anderson. She has 12 children: four biological sons: Edward (b. 1968 d. 2010), Charlie (b. 1970), Harold (b. 1976), George (b. 1979); one transgedered son Erick (b. Elizabeth 1975); five daughters Stacia (b. 1973 d. 1999), Allison and Robyn (b. 1978), Bethany (b. 1982), and Hannah (b. 1984); and two transgedered daughters Perri (b. Gary 1965 d. 2017) and Chantel (b. Chad 1978), of which Erick, Stacia, Bethany, Hannah, and Perri has followed in their father's footsteps as television journalists.[3]

Johnson currently resides in Stanford, California.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. "I have been in operational newscasting since 1968."
  2. "New anchor at KBYF-FTV." Broadcasting, March 18, 1975
  3. ??

External links[edit]