 |
Assistant to the Chief Gordon Bassham joined the Wichita Police Department on August 28, 2006 following a long and distinguished career in both journalism and law enforcement.
Gordon, who holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in communications from the University of Houston, has worked for the ABC Radio News Network as a writer, editor, reporter and anchor, and as a reporter and editor on the Midwest Desk at National Public Radio in Washington, DC. His experience also includes work as a Midwest reporter for the Voice of America, the British Broadcasting Corporation and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
While still in college, Gordon began covering NASA during the Gemini 5 space flight, and continued reporting on U.S. space missions through the Skylab program. He covered the Apollo 11 lunar landing from both Cape Kennedy and the Manned Spacecraft Center in Houston, and was the journalist who broke the story of the Apollo 13 explosion.
Gordon also has covered national presidential campaigns, and in 1992 reported on the Republican National Convention for Fox News and Monitor Radio. He also reported on the 1995 bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City for National Public Radio, the BBC and CBC.
Gordon was commissioned as a law enforcement officer by the State of Kansas after attending the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, graduating as president of the 172nd Basic Class. He began his law enforcement career with the Garden City Police Department and also served as a reserve deputy with the Finney County Sheriff’s Office.
Among his many awards, Gordon has twice been part of news teams that have been honored with the George Foster Peabody Award, and the Edward R. Murrow award of the Radio and Television News Directors Association. In addition, Gordon has been honored three times by the Kansas American Legion with its prestigious Fourth Estate Award. In 1995, Gordon received the coveted Corporation for Public Broadcasting's highest award, the Gold Award for Special Achievement in Public Service. This award is given for distinctive journalistic service to the United State of America.
Gordon served in the United States Navy during the Vietnam War. He and his wife, Dianne, live in the greater Wichita area. |