Bob Beck
Retired News DirectorBob Beck retired from Wyoming Public Media after serving as News Director of Wyoming Public Radio for 34 years. During his time as News Director WPR has won over 100 national, regional and state news awards.
In addition to duties as News Director, Bob was the co-creator, host and producer of the news magazine Open Spaces, which has won 11 national Public Media Journalist Association awards. Bob has personally won four PMJA awards for reporting and five regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. He has also won numerous Associated Press and Wyoming Association of Broadcasters awards in his career.
Bob was given the WEA School Bell Award for education reporting and was honored by the Governor’s Council on Impaired Driving for his reporting. On the television side, Bob has been part of two Emmy Award-winning PBS telecasts.
In his career, Bob covered the legislature longer than any Wyoming broadcaster. Additional coverage as a reporter includes events such as the Mark Hopkinson execution, the Jessica Dubroff plane crash, the Matthew Shepard murder and a drunk driving crash that killed eight University of Wyoming Athletes.
Professionally, he served on the PMJA Board and has been state coordinator for the Radio Television Digital News Association and Project Vote Smart.
Bob taught broadcast news at the University of Wyoming for 20 years and twice was honored with a Top Prof award by the UW Mortar Board.
Around Laramie, Bob was active in community events. He co-chaired the 2009 Albany County United Way Campaign, served as President of the United Way Board, and has been involved with other non-profit organizations as a board member and volunteer.
Prior to coming to WPR, Bob worked as a News and Sportscaster at stations in Wyoming and Illinois. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and is a native of Wheaton, Illinois in suburban Chicago.
Email: btwo@uwyo.edu
Phone: 307-766-6626
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This week a new University of Wyoming poll conducted by the Wyoming Survey and Analysis center between July 25th and August 6th shows that Harriet Hageman holds a nearly 30 point lead over U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney in their battle for the Republican House primary election. University of Wyoming Political Scientist Jim King has analyzed the poll and tells Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck what the numbers say and how some additional questions shed light on what voters think. -
It's been awhile since people have doubted the Wyoming Cowboys football team. But after losing its top two quarterbacks, its top running back, receiver, along with several key defensive players, Wyoming has been picked fifth in the Mountain Division of the Mountain West Conference. But the majority of media members who voted believe that position is warranted after Wyoming struggled in conference play last year. -
A new University of Wyoming poll shows that Republican U.S. House candidate Harriet Hageman leads Congresswoman Liz Cheney by nearly 30 points as primary election day looms. -
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You've probably heard a number of political candidates complain about the Federal COVID-19 spending. But it turns out that many of those candidates and party officials accepted over $3.5 million in federal relief subsidies. WyoFile reporter Maggie Mullen authored a story looking into the matter. -
State Senator Tara Nethercott is one of the candidates trying to succeed Ed Buchanan as Wyoming’s Secretary of State. Nethercott is an attorney from Cheyenne and is the Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Wyoming Public Radio’s Bob Beck begins the conversation by discussing Limited Liability companies in the state that some say are a tax haven for bad actors. Nethercott has looked into the issue and isn’t concerned. -
Liz Cheney won her House seat big in 2020. But splitting with Trump over election legitimacy and chairing the Jan. 6 hearings has her trailing a pro-Trump challenger by 20 points in a recent poll.
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Wyoming Congresswoman Liz Cheney has an uphill climb in her attempt to get re-elected. Her vote to impeach Donald Trump turned many Wyoming Republicans against her. The most recent polling has her 20 points behind top challenger Harriet Hageman who has Trump's endorsement. Cheney has received a lot of national attention recently with her work on the commission investigating what happened on January 6th, 2021, and Trump's role in trying to overturn the election. For several weeks the hearings were largely ignored in Wyoming. Wyoming Public Radio's Bob Beck asked her if that's changed.
