After a long battle with brain tumors, KOMO TV anchor Kathi Goertzen passed away on Monday, sparking a massive social outpouring in Seattle. A beloved figure in the community, Kathi chronicled her struggles on Facebook even in her final days, which only amplified today’s surprise of her passing. As of this writing, a few hours after the news broke, a new wall post is appearing on Kathi’s Facebook page every ten seconds. And photos of her fill my Facebook news feed.
Soon after the news, the governor, a U.S. senator, competing stations and local businesses were tweeting @komonews with condolences. KOMO reporters shared old memories and photos, and KOMO set up a Facebook app where people could leave their condolences. KOMONews.com’s home page was replaced with a splash page (below) that ushered users into a special section remembering Kathi’s reporting and community contributions. She was only 54 years old.
Last year, Kathi created a Facebook page as she was headed back into surgery. In the first 24 hours, she had amassed 35,694 fans. “She felt Facebook was a great way to put the pictures out there and to interact with supporters,” explained KOMO’s Jen Kuglin. This month Kathi’s page surpassed 77K “likes,” nearly twice as big as KOMO News’ own page, and the social support has been immense. Just look at these posts in the last couple weeks:
Kathi’s family followed with a post on Friday asking for prayers. “You have played an important part in her recovery over the years,” they wrote.
Last year, Paul Balcerak wrote about Kathi’s Facebook page on Lost Remote. “The number of likes and fans Kathi and KOMO have received are obviously trivial in comparison to what Kathi is going through,” wrote Paul, who works at competing station KIRO-TV. “It’s not easy to get so deeply personal as Kathi has, and journalists in particular have largely instituted an arms-length distance between themselves and the public. For those willing to take a risk and bridge that gap, there’s a genuine connection to be had that can change someone from that person on TV to that person who I know.”
Through her own courage on Facebook, Kathi transcended the anchor-viewer relationship to forge a special bond with the Seattle community. We did know her, and we miss her immensely.