Eric Hanson anchors KCCI 8 News this Morning and tells the stories of Iowa characters in his “This is Iowa” segments. Eric joined the KCCI team in May 2000.

Eric grew up on a farm between Roland and Story City and has lived in Iowa nearly all of his life. That Iowa background and Iowa’s characters are the cornerstone of Eric's stories. His writing has been honored with five national Edward R. Murrow awards, five national Society for Professional Journalists awards, a National Headliner award, six Emmys and dozens of regional and statewide honors.

After attending Roland-Story High School, Eric graduated from Wartburg College in Waverly with a double major in Electronic Media and Public Relations. Internships took him to Minneapolis and Waterloo before his first reporting job at WEAU-TV in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. He also reported for KWWL-TV in Waterloo, pulling double-duty for a year as an adjunct professor at his alma mater, Wartburg. In 2000, he joined the KCCI team. He was named morning anchor in August 2014.

Stories have taken Eric to every corner of the country and even to England, Haiti and South Africa. His favorite assignments focus on the characters who make Iowa such a great place to live. From fraternity brothers who show up unannounced at high school football games to elderly musicians who strum their fiddles in an auto garage, Iowans are the centerpiece of Eric's stories.

Away from work, Eric has completed a quest to visit every Major League Baseball stadium in America, often cheering for the Chicago Cubs. Eric is active at Lutheran Church of Hope in West Des Moines, singing in a gospel quintet. Eric lives in West Des Moines with his wife, daughter and son.

If you know a character who would make a great story or if you have any other story ideas, email Eric: edhanson@hearst.com.