An icon of TV news in Fresno for decades, former KSEE anchor dies at 76

Bud Elliott wasn’t just some TV news talking head.

For the better part of three decades, he was a presence in Fresno’s TV landscape and the literal and figurative anchor of KSEE 24’s newsroom at a time when viewers took the news team as the brand.

“For KSEE, it was Bud and Stef,” said Stefani Booroojian, Elliott’s nightly news co-anchor through the 1990s. “They just expected us to be there.”

Elliott retired from the station in 2014 after being diagnosed with Parkinson’s Disease, a progressive nervous system disorder that began to affect his hand and voice. He died on Monday at the age of 76.

His death was confirmed by the station in a news segment Tuesday.

“I worked with so many people over the years that I considered icons. ... He became part of that legacy,” Booroojian told The Bee on Wednesday.

“He really embedded himself and his family in the Central Valley.”

From the anchor desk at CNN to Fresno

Elliott came to Fresno already established in broadcast journalism. He graduated from Colorado State University in 1970 and had had multiple industry jobs when he landed a gig anchoring a then-relatively unknown 24-hour news station called CNN.

The show was “CNN Headline News.”

Elliott started at KSEE in 1987 and was there until his contract ended (and was not renewed) in 2007. His leave was short. He returned to the station (and the anchor chair) in 2012.

For the bulk of his run, Elliott helmed the nightly newscast, but he also did two stints on the station’s morning show, which co-host Faith Sidlow recounted in a story in The Fresno Bee in 2015.

“Anchoring the morning show with Bud wasn’t work. It was a two-and-a-half hour coffee break,” Sidlow said.

“He was the yin to my yang — always the voice of reason, dependable, intelligent, a quick wit, and highly respected by everyone who came into contact with him.”

“A sad day for Central Valley viewers”

That sentiment was echoed upon his death.

“In my 48 years in journalism very few have matched Bud in his professionalism, his calming presence under pressure and his good humor,” Felix Contreras wrote in a remembrance on Facebook.

Contreras started his career at KSEE before going on to co-create and host the national NPR radio show “Alt Latino.”

“It’s a sad day for Central Valley viewers,” he wrote, “and even sadder for any and all who had the honor of working with him over the years.”

Michael Golden, an author and political activist living in Arizona, met Elliott and became a longtime friend while working as a reporter for KSEE in the 1990s.

He chronicled his final visit with Elliott in a post on his Substack newsletter last year.

“The single most memorable day I had working with Bud came in 1996, when the Clinton-Gore re-election campaign swung through Fresno,” Golden wrote. “I was the puppy dog who was thrilled to be covering a presidential visit.”

Elliott calmed that nervous energy.

“Bud placed his hands on my shoulders, looked me straight in the eye and said in a lilting voice: ‘Mikeeeeee, relax. Breathe. It’s a loooong day.’ “

Elliott was great at the nuts and bolts of journalism, but also had a quiet wisdom that could be felt, Golden told The Bee on Wednesday.

“He had an incredible career in journalism. He did it without any showiness or bulls---. He led by example.”

Elliott is survived by his wife Peggy and two children.

This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 1:08 PM.