Chicago native Mike Lowe got into TV news because someone told him he had a voice for broadcasting when he read the sports scores over his high school PA. He found himself as a political reporter because he just happened to be the one covering the political turmoil in Madison in 2011.

Now, Lowe has his own branded segment on FOX 6, and he’s being recognized for his work – the 34-year-old reporter just won six Emmys. But he’s also modest and down to Earth.

We caught up with Lowe recently to discuss how he wound up in Vermont, Germany and Milwaukee, and why covering politics is more fun than covering dirt bike races. Enjoy this latest Milwaukee Talks.

OnMilwaukee.com: You are doing something in Milwaukee that there are not a whole lot other people doing, right?

Mike Lowe: We're interesting, in the sense that we have a segment that is dedicated to politics alone. It’s called the Political Lowdown.

OMC: Convenient.

ML: Convenient for me, right?

OMC: How did you find yourself in that position? What’s the Mike Lowe story?

ML: I joke about it. I was basically the guy with the deep voice and the striped tie who was sent out to the Capitol on the first day of the protest in 2011. They kept me out there ...

OMC: That's what started it?

ML: I was a political science major at Northwestern. I had some interest in it. I think most people don't like doing political stories. They view them as boring.

OMC: Boring for the reporter or boring for the viewers?

ML: I think viewers tend to be bored by political stories and reporters don't like to do them because you want something juicier than a Democrat or Republican talking heads, or whatever. Obviously, over the last few two or three years in Wisconsin, politics has been anything but boring. So that's kind of been turned on its head here.

OMC: So you went from, basically, from a job that didn't exist, to one of the more high-profile positions at the station in two years. Is that part of the game plan?

ML: I planned the whole labor process, and everything, just for my career advancement. No. I think what happened was because Gov. Walker came in and made a lot of noise, we had to have somebody covering him, basically, every day. He can open his mouth and make news at any point. It behooved any station, any news organizations to have somebody, essentially, covering Walker very closely, and politics as a whole because it was above the whole headline news and still continues to be to this day.

OMC: Some people must think erroneously that Fox 6 News is editorially aligned with Fox News. I'm assuming you get that when you're out talking to people.

ML: Absolutely.

OMC: How do you handle that?

ML: I try to explain to people that the Fox Broadcast Network is something that is different from Fox News Channel. Media ownership is very complicated. You have local stations all over the country that are not owned and operated by the networks themselves. We're one of those. When I first got here, I was actually the last employee hired when Channel 6 was an owned and operated station by the News Corporation, which is Rupert Murdoch's company. We were owned by Fox at one point. When he wanted to raise capital to buy the Wall Street Journal, he sold many of the midsized stations like, Cleveland, Denver, Milwaukee, for example and we were bought by a company called Local TV, LLC.

OMC: Not sure everyone understands that.

ML: Now we're actually being sold to the Tribune Corporation. It's very complicated, the ownership. To kind of condense that down to a point people can understand, we're not Bill O'Reilly, we're not Sean Hannity. Roger Ailes is not in a newsroom in New York calling the Fox 6 morning meetings telling us how to cover stories. Nobody is doing that, but the journalists in Milwaukee, in Wisconsin, we're deciding on our own stories and how to present them. We try not to have any type of editorial slant.

To get back to the point about, well people might say, "Well you have the same Fox logo that we see." That's because we have a contract with the Fox Broadcast Network to be the station in this market that plays their programming. So, we're the network that shows "The Simpsons," "American Idol," the NFL, but you don't see Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, or any type of slanted commentary one way or the other on Fox 6.

OMC: Have you been able to separate your personal critical meanings from how you cover politics?

ML: Yes, I think that every thinking person has an opinion and journalists are among the most opinionated because they're some of the best informed people. Their job is to be in the news and to know what's going on. Our responsibility, however, is to not let that show in our work. I try to go to any story, even if I have personal feelings about it, and give everybody a fair shake.

That's not to say one side might not get a little bit more the heavy weight in the story. The old example is do you give equal weight to the Nazis or something like that. I don't think you can do that. Sometimes you can clearly see where there's a line, but in political stories, I think there's two sides to everything and you have to be very careful. Especially when you are covering it every day. I’ve got to go back to the same people and they've got to be able to trust me. They got to know that their side, they're at least going to get a fair shake.

OMC: Does hiding your political leanings extend to social media? Does that extend to your friends? When does it come out?

ML: I never get into politics on the air, on social media or anything. To the extent I post anything on Facebook is about sports teams or Bill Murray movies or something like that. My college roommate, my freshman year, one of my best friends had a very different, has a very different political viewpoint than I do and we would get into arguments, and we still do to this day. It's kind of fun. With close friends, with family I'll talk about it, but I don't let my leanings show one way or the other. I think if you were to ask Scott Walker or Chris Larson they would say I'm not sure where he stands.

OMC: Speaking of that, do you remember when some journalists, some in Milwaukee, got in trouble for signing the recall petition?

ML: Yes. As a citizen, I think it's fairly clear that everyone it's a constitutional right enshrined in the Constitution that you have the right to petition your government. A journalist being fired for doing that – anybody being fired for signing a petition – seems wrong to me. In journalism, as in many other things, appearances become the truth and anything the compromises your ability to do your job, I can understand why a news organization would not want you to sign political petitions.

I never would do that. I didn't sign the recall petition. I have never signed a petition. I don't get involved in any political activities what-so-ever. I think that anybody was fired would have a case against their employer.

OMC: How did you get into this business?

ML: When I was in high school in Chicago, actually, I got asked to do the sports updates on the homeroom announcements.I went to Loyola Academy, which is the same high school, by the way, that Bill Murray went to.

OMC: That can only be a good thing, right?

ML: People said, "You know, you ought to get into broadcasting, you've got a good voice." I went to journalism school at Northwestern, and I got into doing sportscasting.

OMC: Were you thinking broadcast at this point?

ML: I was thinking broadcast. I actually wanted to be Bob Costas.

OMC: That's not a bad person to be.

ML: I was a play by play announcer for Northwestern Wildcat football games for WNUR radio. From there I had an internship in Topeka, Kan., where I was on air sports reporter. I was covering dirt track racing and covering stuff that I didn't really want to do. I said there's got to be something more that can hold my attention more than this. I thought when I got into covering sports I would be covering Michael Jordan, and the NFL and stuff like that, but I was covering dirt track racing in Topeka, Kan., on a Friday night.

OMC: Not quite what you were looking for?

ML: It didn’t do it for me. When I went back to Northwestern after that on air internship, I said I wanted to do something more serious. I got into covering more news and in-depths stuff. I did a lot of in-depth radio reporting. My first job was in, I actually went to Washington D. C. as part of the graduate program and started covering the Capitol. I was there, actually the day.

OMC: So you stayed at Northwestern for graduate school?

ML: Stayed at Northwestern for graduate school. I got my master's degree in journalism.

OMC: Then what?

ML: I was covering for a TV station in Vermont and the Medill schools has contracts with smaller TV stations around the country to run something called the Medill news service. We actually served as their D.C. correspondent. At the time, that I was there, Jim Jeffords was the senator, he had just switched parties. That was huge political news at the time. This was in early Bush administration. Howard Dean was the governor and he was coming a couple of times to talk on Capitol Hill, then Bernie Sanders was this independent, now he's a senator there. For Vermont, for a very small state, they had some big name people.

OMC: Then what?

ML: Then I moved from there to Germany. I lived in Berlin for about a year. A little bit more than a year working for Deutsche Welle TV and radio.

OMC: Do you speak German?

ML: I do.

OMC: How old are you?

ML: I just turned 34 in October.

OMC: Your story is what I would expect for a young reporter. You did all the right things, and worked your way up. But not everyone does that in the Milwaukee media market, right?

ML: That's been one of the most surprising things since the crash in 2008. I always looked at Milwaukee as, maybe, the last stop in a career before you get to a New York or a Chicago or something like that. Now kids are coming here at age 22, 23 and they're on air. This was the place that should be your third or fourth shot.

OMC: Do you think that means that you're held in a higher esteem at the station? Does that give you opportunities that the 22-year-olds don't get?

ML: I don't know about that. Most of the younger people that we've hired have a different role. They're what they call MMJs or backpack journalists, one man bands. They have to do it all on their own. In that sense I get to do a lot more in depth stuff. Maybe I have a different stature. I wouldn't say I'm higher than anybody. My title is still reporter.

OMC: But you've got a branded segment.

ML: Basically where that came from is just that they could make a funny pun with my name.

OMC: Don't be too humble about it.

ML: It was a big deal. It's kind of fun because I was just on Brady Street, and three people stopped me to say, "The Lowdown." That's what people know me as now.

OMC: Because of where you are in your career at this age, it seems to me, that if you wanted to you make a name for yourself here, you could ride out your career in this market. But you're not from the Milwaukee – although you are pretty close to Milwaukee.

ML: When I was first hired by the general manager, Chuck Steinmetz, he asked me what's my goal and I said to get to Chicago. That's home. That's where all my friends and family are and I don't think anybody would begrudge me that. If I couldn't be in Chicago, Milwaukee is the next best thing. I wouldn't want to go to L.A. or New York. I'm a Midwest guy. I want to be here and this is close enough. I love Milwaukee. I really do or I wouldn't have stayed her for six years.

I think this is a really cool place to live. I think it's a city that is, it's not known, as much, nationally. I think that's really it's sad because there's a lot going on here. I could see myself staying here, absolutely, but I would like to try to get to Chicago. That's my ultimate goal.

OMC: Do opportunities open often? Do they come to you, or how does that work? Do you have an agent?

ML: I do have an agent. TV is such a funny business in the sense that when hiring decisions are made it's almost like a news director is casting a play. If an Asian woman leaves, the slot for an Asian is open and I'm not going to get hired for that. If a white guy leaves, then I have to be in the pool of the white guys they like. Because you have to be careful when you're on TV. You want to reflect the community your reporting on. You have to be mindful of having diverse faces and voices and so forth.

OMC: You've done some anchoring in Milwaukee, too?

ML: Yes. It's not an official title, but I'm basically channel 6's primary fill in anchor. I fill in a lot when days when Brad Hicks or Ted Perry's off.

OMC: Do you enjoy that?

ML: I do. I think there's a lot more of a performance aspect to that. To that side of it. You have to kind of bring it, especially at channel 6, for an hour and a half.

OMC: That's a lot of bringing it.

ML: Sometimes hard to do. It is. It's a long show. Or a long two shows; it's an hour and then a half hour, they split it up. I do enjoy anchoring, but in order to be an anchor you have to earn your chops as a reporter first. If you look at the great network anchors from my time, Dan Rather obviously spent time covering wars, covering the White House. Same thing with Peter Jennings; he covered the Middle East for a long time. Tom Brokaw, we all know, covered the civil rights movement.

OMC: Is there a future in local TV news, or is it becoming irrelevant as everything is turned in to a "push" medium?

ML: I think it's becoming less relevant. With that being said, I've seen many studies that say the vast majority of people still get most of their information from their local station, from their local TV station. We give you your weather reports, your sports team, your schools, your local political leaders. We tell you what's going on in your community. Is that irreplaceable? Probably not. I think that technology is changing, if you look at what's happening with Apple TV or Roku. I mean right now on Roku you can get channels out of Madison and just watch the segments.

OMC: You don't have to wait until 10:18 p.m. to get it.

ML: Right. It's almost like as the technology gets better, it's almost like you have access to a website. You might not have to have an anchor broadcast. You might not have to have a TV station to disseminate the signal to your home. You can just get it through one of these whatever the next invention is going to be.

The technology is already there and what the philosophy has been at Channel 6 is that in order for local TV to survive we have to do, we have to almost be hyper-local. Do more and more local programming, so in the last couple of years we started new local programs, "Real Milwaukee," "Studio A," that try to focus on the people and the things to do here. What's going on in Milwaukee and in Southeastern Wisconsin. I think there should always be a place for it. I think there is that kind of hearth aspect to TV that in times of crisis or in times of major news you want to see it. A tweet can't do that. A tweet could not convey what was going on at the Capitol.

OMC: Especially in politics.

ML: Absolutely. Definitely in politics. There will always be a place for that. People have been writing the obituary for TV news for 20 years or so, more than that probably. I think as long as you do it well and are committed and care about it, it will stick around. That's why "60 Minutes" is still a great program.

OMC: You just won some Emmys. How many is that now?

ML: Eight total. Six in the last go around.

OMC: What did you earn them for?

ML: The last ones were for investigative reporting, reporting on the arts, reporting on religion, best general assignment reporter, best feature reporter, and best writing. I have to give a lot of credit to, especially on photographer in particular, who I worked with, Tim Viste. He really spent a lot of time. We worked on a lot of those stories that ended up winning on our own time and he is a great photographer. In TV the pictures matter more than anything else.

OMC: How big of a deal is that to you?

ML: It is. The Emmy's a fun one to win, even though in the industry the Edward R. Murrow Award is probably more prestigious. The Emmy translates instantly to anyone on TV because they know Oprah wins Emmy's.

OMC: Right.

ML: And James Gandolfini. And Jerry Seinfeld and all those big stars.

OMC: It is the fame and recognition.

ML: Right. It's the bestowed by the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences and the way I describe it to people is it's like the major national Emmys, that's the national level. Then almost like college football conferences.

OMC: Are you going to get an Emmy tattoo?

ML: No. I would never get a tattoo. I'm not a tattoo guy.

OMC: You're a Bay View guy, right?

ML: Yes. Love the neighborhood.

OMC: What do you like to do in your rare times that you're not working.

ML: I live, I'm lucky to live very close to the Oak Leaf Trail, so in the summer I like to ride my bike up and down, it's such a beautiful place. You're right on the lake. It's kind of funny you see kind of all of Wisconsin on that trail. There's one spot there where you see people golfing, there's the path of people exercising, and then there's people firing guns into the lake and skeet shooting. It's all right there. Then there's a hot dog stand where you can get brats right there. I think there's something, I don't if it was Melville who talked about it, but there's something redemptive about seeing the water. I like living close to the lake. I was in on the East Side when I first moved here, but then I moved to the real East Side.

OMC: Favorite bars, favorite restaurants?

ML: I love the Palomino, if you're talking about neighborhood bars. Sugar Maple is cool. Cafe Centraal is a really good restaurant around here. Really any of the places around here I like because they're close.

OMC: That's a good Milwaukee answer. Drink very locally.

ML: Drink locally, exactly. I think there are a lot of different cool neighborhoods. I love going out in the Third Ward, the Irish Pub. I saw you at Spin a couple of weeks ago. That's a fun one but it's kind of a gimmicky place. You don't go there all the time, but for an event or something. Wicked Hop is cool. I like Nomad on the East Side, that's one of my favorites. There's a lot. Can you tell I drink every once and a while?

OMC: As a single guy, has TV been good for your dating life?

ML: I would say that it helps with recognition. In fact, the other day we were watching Thursday night football at Buffalo Wild Wings, actually in Bayshore. A couple of young ladies came up to me and they said, "You're Mike Lowe right?" They wanted to get a picture with me. That's always very embarrassing because I was with other people from Channel 6. That picture is probably posted on Facebook somewhere. It happens every once in a while. I think local news is the cheapest form of celebrity you can have. Absolutely.