Veteran TV Journalist and Author, Life in the Wrong Lane
Greg Dobbs was an ABC News television correspondent.Over two-and-a-half decades, appearing on World News, Nightline, 20/20, and Good Morning America. Dobbs won two national Emmys and was nominated for more. He also won the Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists.
ABC News
For half of his quarter-century with ABC News, he was an international correspondent based in London and Paris. He covered the Iranian revolution and occupation of the U.S. Embassy, Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, civil war in Lebanon and the ejection of the PLO from Beirut, Iran-Iraq war, political turmoil that led to the fall of the Iron Curtain, civil war and deaths of IRA hunger-strikers in Northern Ireland, assassination of Anwar Sadat in Egypt, and civil war in Zimbabwe. Domestically, his major stories included the Watergate scandal, Native American occupation of Wounded Knee, execution of Gary Gilmore, and Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Awards
Dobbs is the winner of two national Emmy Awards: “Best Spot News Coverage on a Network” in 1980 for his reporting of a terrible earthquake in Italy and “Best Network Documentary” in 1989 for his story about environmental poisoning in America. He is the recipient of the “Distinguished Service Award” from the Society of Professional Journalists.
Resignation
In 1992, ABC asked Dobbs to move to New York City from his home in Evergreen, Colorado, where he had settled with his wife and their two boys after returning to the U.S. from Europe. Happy in their beautiful mountain community, he declined the offer and resigned from ABC to begin a multi-faceted career as a radio talk show host, newspaper opinion columnist, and television moderator. For six years, he hosted an Emmy Award-winning discussion program on Rocky Mountain PBS.
HDNet
In 2003, Dobbs became a correspondent for the all high-definition television network HDNet. With his sons now grown, he once again began traveling around the world as senior correspondent and producer of documentaries for “World Report.” His segments covered Agent Orange in Vietnam, terrorism in Lebanon, politics in Russia, the post-Apartheid era in South Africa, wealth in Dubai, autocracy in Venezuela, assisted suicide in Switzerland, dirty water in Indonesia, post-war recovery in Liberia, cocaine in Bolivia, drug war in Colombia, PTSD in the U.S. military, extensive coverage from Israel and the Palestinian territories, and live reports, along with Dan Rather, on primary and general election nights. He covered the U.S. space program, anchoring live from Florida for every space shuttle launch since the Columbia disaster.
Book
Dobbs’s book, Life in the Wrong Lane,published in 2008, is a vivid telling of all the weird and wacky things that happen to journalists even before they report the stories they’ve traveled to cover. Dobbs also is the author of a university-level textbook on writing for broadcasting, Better Broadcast Writing, Better Broadcast News, created from curriculum he developed while teaching at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Northwestern University.
Personal Life
A native of San Francisco, Keynote Speaker Greg Dobbs has been married to Carol Walker Dobbs for more than forty years. Their sons, Jason and Alex, born in England and France, respectively, traded a view of the Eiffel Tower for the Colorado Rockies as children and became excellent downhill and backcountry skiers. Greg taught them to ski black diamonds and has been trying to keep up ever since.
All Greg Dobbs Books
Life in the Wrong Lane
Purchase BookIf you believe, as I do, that the present can best be understood in the context of what has gone before, Greg Dobbs is one of the best analysts I have heard. His expansive knowledge of virtually every corner of the earth--– and of space--- makes him an outstanding and compelling speaker. He personally knows the people who have made and are making history. You will leave wanting more.
- Kay Landen | The City Club of Denver
I had seen Greg on HDNet television and reached out to him in the hope that he might be available for our annual conference of the Council of Communication Management, leaders of communications at large corporations throughout the world. I wanted Greg to provide our global audience with insights about global politics and activities that would better enable them to do their jobs. It was a total success. He was the most highly rated speaker during the three-day event and mesmerized the audience with his in-depth insights, wit, and charisma. To say he "wowed and charmed" the audience would be an understatement!
- Jeff Horn | Managing Director, Business Development Group
Greg Dobbs addressed our “Hot Topics” annual luncheon. Greg’s presentation was, by far, the best we have ever had. He was totally engaging and shared his experiences in the many countries he has visited. He followed his talk with a lively question and answer session that could have gone on for another hour or so. We continue to get questions about when he will return as a speaker.
- Karen Thorne | Osher Lifelong Learning Institute
Greg Dobbs is a skilled and engaging broadcast journalist who was an extraordinary lead speaker at the Energy Moving Forward Forum 2010, and we invited him back to perform the same role at Energy Moving Forward 2011. The attendees truly enjoyed Greg’s commentary. He really connected with the audience and made the event a great success.
- Sueann Ambron | Dean, Business School, University of Colorado-Denver
