Ken Fortenberry

Born in Miami, Florida, Fortenberry grew up in Spartanburg, SC. His father was a Pan American Airlines pilot, and his mother was a housewife.^[2] He graduated from Dorman High School in Spartanburg. Fortenberry, a Vietnam era veteran, joined the U.S. Army out of high school. He graduated from the Defense Information School (DINFOS) outside of Indianapolis, Indiana and was assigned to Fort Hood, Texas for his permanent duty station. He was a writer for the Fort Hood Sentinel newspaper.

Starting his civilian newspaper career in Lincolnton, NC with the Lincoln Times-News in 1972, Fortenberry has served in editorship roles with newspapers in Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, North Carolina, and Alabama. He published a newspaper in McCormick, SC, and he currently operates a newspaper in Denver, NC.^[3]

As a journalist, Fortenberry has won several state, regional and national awards.^[4][5][6][7] While serving as executive editor of the Winter Haven News Chief, the newspaper landed the coveted Sigma Delta Chi Bronze Medallion in Public Service for a series about teachers with past felonies and other criminal records who were working in the state of Florida. The investigative reports led to legislation requiring better screening for those being considered for hiring.^[8] He has also won the Silver Gavel from the American Bar Association^[9] and the national Investigative Reporters and Editors award.^[10]

He gained international recognition in 1987 when his house was rocked by two explosions because of stories he published in the McCormick (S.C.) Messenger.^[11] His coverage of corruption in local law enforcement led to a federal prison term for the sheriff, the bribery conviction of the sheriff's replacement, the exposure of the chief deputy as an ex-convict, and changes in state law enforcement certification.^[12]

Fortenberry was featured on the CBS News program 60 Minutes, the NBC Today show, and his story was reported in dozens of publications including Newsweek and The New York Times.^[13] A book he wrote about the experience, Kill the Messenger, was published in 1989 by Peachtree Publishers LTD of Atlanta and has been under option for a TV movie.^[14]

In "The Mystery of the Lost Clipper", an article co-written by Fortenberry and Greg Herkel, evidence is offered of possible causes of the November 9, 1957 fatal crash of Pan American Airlines Flight 7, enroute from San Francisco, CA to Honolulu, HA. Fortenberry's father, William, was the second officer and navigator of this flight. The article was featured in the September 2004 issue of Air and Space magazine.^[15]

A former member of the Board of Visitors of the University of Alabama College of Communications, Fortenberry is a past chairman of the Southern Newspaper Publishers Association Editorial Committee and a former member of the Board of Publications at the University of Southern Mississippi. He was the first president and founder of the Denver Area Business Association, was named Denver's Citizen of the Year in 2003, and was instrumental in starting the community's first Fourth of July celebration in 2001. He has served as a leader in a number of community organizations across the South including the Salvation Army, the Chamber of Commerce and the United Way.

A former adult Sunday school teacher, church school superintendent in the Methodist Church, and board member of the NC Methodist Advocate, he attended the University of South Carolina-Spartanburg, the American Press Institute, and is a member of the American Legion, the National Rifle Association and Trout Unlimited.

He and his wife, the former Anna Jonas of Lincolnton, have five grown children and four grandchildren. The Fortenberrys own and operate news@norman, a weekly newspaper serving Denver/Lake Norman in Lincoln County.

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