Mike Deeson, Senior Reporter

I am a Senior Reporter for 10 Connects and love coming to work every single day. I continually try to expose people who think they are above the law who don't feel like they have to play by the rules. I always look for politicians that try to grab power and abuse the system.

I came to WTSP-TV in 1982 and shortly thereafter was named to head the consumer/investigative unit called Action Line. After several successful years, I was moved to the position of Senior Reporter and began to cover everything from crime to corruption and from fraud to foreign affairs.

Currently I investigate government waste on a regular basis. My Emmy Winning "What's that Costing You?" runs every Thursday night on 10 Connects News at 11. In 2008 I was able to break the wheelchair dumping story that became national news. The story caused the Attorney General to open an Investigation and forced the Hillsborough Sheriff to appoint an Independent Commission to review policies in the jail.

Since joining WTSP I've been fortunate to win several awards and distinguished honors.

I'm a 4-time Emmy Award winner for coverage of Politics, as well as winning for my series on the Y2K crisis; an investigation into the Adult Movie industry in Tampa Bay; and an investigation into how the Pentagon framed an Army Colonel who refused to go along with a plan by former Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld to hide 20 million dollars from Congress. In all, I've been nominated for 16 Emmy Awards.

In 2009 I won 9 Associated Press and Society of Professional Journalist Awards including Best Investigation, Best Political Story and the Best TV story in the state of Florida.

In 1984, UPI honored me with three awards for news and documentaries as well as a first place award in 1989 as the Outstanding Reporter in the state of Florida and the Outstanding Reporter in the Southeast.

The University of South Florida chose me as Tampa Bay's outstanding professional broadcaster in 1985. The Associated Press awarded me with the Ousting Reporter in Florida 1989 as well as 1990. Also in 1990, I won First place from the National Coalition for Children's Rights in Washington, D.C.

In 1993, I won top honors from the Associated Press for my coverage of the proposed move of the San Francisco Giants to St. Petersburg as well as my coverage of Hurricane Andrew. In 1996, I won the Society of Professional Journalist Green Eyeshade award for non-deadline news for an expose on the Florida Child Welfare System.

I am a 1970 graduate of the University Of Missouri School Of Journalism and began working in broadcasting and journalism at the age of 17. In 2008 I went back to the University of Missouri for an intense course on Computer Assisted Reporting which was sponsored by the Investigative Reporters and Editors Association.

Prior to WTSP TV, I worked at WAVY TV in Norfolk, VA, as a weekend anchor, political reporter and talk show host. I also worked in Rochester and Buffalo, NY: Flint, Signifier and Jackson, MI. and Columbia Missouri. When I was in Jackson I did the play-by play of the Jackson High School football team. When Tony Dungy came to Tampa Bay to coach the Bucs, I figured out he was the quarterback of the team when I was doing the games. I honestly didn't remember that, because it was in the early 70's.

I'm active in several community events. For several years I hosted the Jerry Lewis Muscular Dystrophy Telethon in both Norfolk and Tampa.

In addition to daily news stories, I am a songwriter and the Regional Coordinator for the Nashville Songwriters Association International,NSAI. I wrote the title song Way Too Hot to Handle on Gene Garrett's debut album, Way Too Hot! And I have several songs signed with publishers in Nashville and Los Angeles. I've written numerous songs that have aired in news stories including Lotto Fever; Magic In The Air Everyone's Home For Christmas and Got To Keep The Bucs in Tampa Bay. I have also written several other songs in the country, pop and children category.

I have a recording studio in my home. While I am mainly a keyboard player, somehow I've ended up with five guitars. My 12 string is my favorite guitar. When I need to relax I put on the headphones and play my keyboard or work on a song.

In my free time, I'm an avid golfer, but that doesn't mean I score as well as I would like to. I've been a Buccaneer season ticket holder since the ugly orange creamsicle days. One of my greatest thrills was covering the Bucs Super Bowl win in San Diego. I've covered 5 Super Bowls, but nothing compared to that victory over Oakland.

My wife Laurie and I live in Tampa. We have two children, one in college and the other in his mid 20's.

If you have a story you want me to investigate please contact me.

MDeeson@10connects.10 or MikeD@10Connects.com and

And you can Follow me on Twitter at MikeDeeson@twitter.com

Stories from Mike Deeson