Phil is currently a News Anchor and Reporter at AM 600 KOGO Radio in San Diego. He is also the senior correspondent with an emphasis on politics, military and sports.
In addition, Farrar was doing double-duty, serving as CW6 News Weekend Morning Anchor and also anchored sports and was a reporter until the TV station lost its affiliation in May of 2017.
Farrar is a National Award winning broadcast journalist. His list of honors includes the coveted Edward R. Murrow Award for being a part of the Radio News Station of the Year.
Phil and the staff at KOGO radio were
awarded the prestigious Marconi Radio Award for their tireless efforts covering the 2003 San Diego Wildfires.
He has been individually recognized five times by the National Association of Black Journalist and received four awards for stories right here in San Diego on the Black diaspora. He's a multiple Associated Press club award-winning Broadcast Journalist.
In 2004, Phil was named one of the top five ABC Radio Network affiliate reporters in the entire country. He has also appeared on CNN and MSNBC as a special broadcast courtroom analyst during high-profiled murder trials. Farrar has also contributed to Fox News Radio by providing reports pertaining to the military, U.S./Mexico border and California.
During his career, Farrar has interviewed iconic sports figures from Mays to 'Magic.' He has reported live from the World Series, the MLB All-Star game, four Super Bowls, the World Cup and the NBA Finals. He's reported live from major political conventions. Farrar has had one-on-one exclusive interviews with prisoners, players, presidents and other politicians. He has co-hosted parades and military air shows. In all, he has reported live from five countries and two continents.
Phil, a Freeport, Illinois native began his career just twenty miles away in Rockford. He was a News and Sports Anchor/Reporter at the then ABC affiliate WREX-TV. In 1989 he joined the NBC Owned and Operated station, WMAQ in Chicago. He further honed his skills by writing, producing, field producing and producing the 'Sunday Sports Show.' Phil worked briefly at the CBS O&O as a writer and field producer before returning to WMAQ to anchor late evening and overnight newscasts.
Farrar took his game West to San Diego where he was the 11pm Sports Anchor for the ABC affiliate, KGTV, Channel 10. While in San Diego, Farrar regularly covers the Padres, the then San Diego Chargers along with the professional hockey San Diego Gulls. Phil has anchored live baseball coverage from Arizona and Florida during Spring Training and served as a pre-game and post-game host. He's followed Woods, Mickelson, Day and Speith along with other leaders at the annual San Diego PGA tournament. From the first through the 18th hole at the 2008 US Open, Phil was inside the ropes as Tiger Woods defeated Rocco Mediate on a fifth day of playoff golf at the seaside course known as Torrey Pines. Farrar has covered some of the world's greatest athletes at the Olympic Training Center located just south of San Diego and interviewed former Olympians who call the region home. He is a fixture as he reports on teams and individuals from Division I and II colleges along with challenged athletes.
Phil's dedication to his profession has earned him nearly 80 accolades. He has been recognized by the San Diego Press Club for both radio and television. In October of 2017, Farrar was awarded 1st place by the Press Club for his live TV anchored coverage of the Major League Baseball All-Star Game held here in San Diego, from the previous summer. He also received top radio honors from the Club for a story he did on 'Rachel's Challenge to San Diego.' The story centered around Rachel Scott who was the first student shot and killed during the Columbine massacre. A foundation in her name started a pilot program here in San Diego to prevent bullying and encourage students to exercise random acts of kindness.
In October of 2018, Phil was honored with five awards for his live field reporting of the California wildfires in San Diego County. He also covered live — the arrival and speech of Donald Trump. It marked the president’s first visit to the Golden State as the Commander-in-Chief spoke to members of the military at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in March of 2018.
Farrar also took home three individual awards for his retrospective series, “Shattered in 1968: San Diego Remembers.” It was an in-depth look from a San Diego perspective on the 50th anniversary of one of the most explosive and divisive years in world and American history. Phil interviewed those who had a connection with and remembered the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr., Robert F. Kennedy and unknowingly were involved in battle changing ‘Tet Offensive’ in Vietnam.
He has earned four individual Golden Mikes from the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California (RTNA) for sports coverage and in-depth news reporting. In January of 2019, Farrar was honored for a three-part series on stories from the turbulent year of 1968. On July 17th, 2019, Farrar was again honored by the Society of Professional Journalist taking home the Top Award Category for Excellence in Journalism for the same series.
In 2018, he took home the award for the ‘Rachel's Challenge’ story. Most notably, Phil was praised and recognized locally, regionally and nationally for a special report he did on Willie O'Ree, the first African-American to play in the National Hockey League. His five-part series on "Black in San Diego" earned him honors from the San Diego Society of Professional Journalists, San Diego Press Club, NABJ and the RTNA. Farrar captured the Press Club's 1st place award in 2004 as he anchored live news coverage from South America aboard the USS Ronald Reagan as the world's largest nuclear powered warship churned through the Pacific waters during its maiden voyage. He was the first and only broadcast journalist embedded with the Reagan for two weeks as it made its home porting to United States Naval Base Coronado.
Phil also dedicates his time to non-profit agencies like the Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E.) program and the YWCA where he has worked with children of abused women. He recently served as Master of Ceremonies during the International Police Chief's Convention for the 9-1-1 for Kids Heroes Awards Ceremony.
He has also volunteered his time to emcee the San Diego Padres annual Salute to the Negro Leagues. From 2015-2017, Phil produced, wrote, voiced, directed videos and served as the emcee for the Central San Diego Black Chamber of Commerce annual Scholarship Gala.
Farrar is a history buff and loves reading about the incredible significance the Negro Leagues and the unknown accomplishments it had on American culture.
Phil is a Freeport High School Pretzel and a Southern Illinois University Saluki graduate. In September of 2018, Farrar was inducted in to his high school Hall of Fame as a Distinguished Alumni.
He is extremely proud to report on and call Southern California his home.
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