Ken left a lucrative stint in real estate and joined KING 5 in April of 1973, as the Watergate scandal was making national headlines. He began working at KING 5 as a night editor, alongside reporters Charles Royer, Julie Blacklow and Don McGaffin, all of whom Jones says, “were making a difference in Seattle. I knew this is what I was meant to do.” It was at KING under the tutelage of the great Northwest news photographer and mentor, Phil Sturholm, that he learned his craft, and it was Phil who convinced Ken to work at KING 5. Today he is the senior photojournalist at the station.

Ken has earned his reputation for capturing the shot with his work locally, nationally and internationally.

In Seattle in 1985, he made a split-second decision to turn the camera toward witnesses when a deadly accident resulted in a performer’s death. A rope suspending a Japanese dancer from a tall building broke and Ken documented the horror of that moment by capturing the faces of the audience. The Poynter Institute still uses that story as an example for journalism students to show good judgment in sensitive situations.

Twice in 1996, Ken’s quick response to breaking news resulted in his providing the first national images. In Montana he was the first photographer to capture a shot of the Unabomber—Ted Kaczynski, and he was the first photographer to provide video from the scene of the deadly bomb blast at the Atlanta Summer Olympic games. In South Korea in 1987 he provided video to NBC News of students rioting and soldiers responding with tear gas.

In April 2011, for the second time in his career, Ken was again part of the team of photographers recognized as the best in the nation by the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA). The NPPA named KING 5 as the large market Station of the Year.