About Debby Knox
Four-time Emmy winner and Broadcast Hall of Fame inductee Debby Knox has had a 46-year career in Broadcasting, most recently anchoring and reporting for the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at CBS4 in Indianapolis.
Debby’s career started at WAAM Radio in Ann Arbor, Michigan, in late 1976, moving into television news at Notre Dame’s WNDU-TV in 1978 and WSJV in Elkhart in 1979. In August of 1980, she landed at WISH-TV, a CBS affiliate in Indianapolis. She took on the duties of noon co-anchor and medical reporter before being promoted to anchoring the 5, 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at WISH-TV.
Debby’s reports have been many and varied during her career. In addition to her health reports, she’s also remembered for her one-on-one interviews with prominent newsmakers, including Presidents Barack Obama and Bill Clinton and secretaries of State Madeleine Albright and Colin Powell. She also has interviewed Nobel Laureates Archbishop Desmond Tutu, scientist Dr. James Watson, Medal of Honor recipient Sammy Davis Jr., senators Elizabeth Dole, Richard Lugar and Evan Bayh, and former Indiana First Ladies Susan Bayh and Josie Orr.
Other notable interviews include First Lady Barbara Bush, Butler University basketball coach Brad Stevens, and authors John Green and Anne Patchett. She also was the first person to interview AIDS patient Ryan White, who became an AIDS activist along with his mother as he battled that illness.
Among her many honors, Debby is the recipient of the Sagamore of the Wabash Distinguished Hoosier Award and a Silver Circle Honor from the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. She is a member of the Associated Press Hall of Fame and her hometown of Edwardsburg Hall of Fame and has been honored six times as Indianapolis Woman Magazine’s top choice for local female TV anchor. The magazine also recognized her as a top local health reporter.
Debby has won two UPI first place awards for documentaries: One about a patient undergoing a heart transplant and one for an investigation into the Indiana Blood Center. She is a first place Society of Professional Journalists winner for medical reporting, received the Barrett Award from the Indiana Psychological Association and is a member of a critical incident stress management team. One of her proudest accomplishments is competing in a powerlifting competition at the National Institute of Sport and Fitness.
Among her travels as a reporter, Debby went to Egypt where she met the First Lady of that country, Suzanne Mubarak. She also accompanied the Indiana National Guard to Bosnia where troops were assigned peacekeeping duties. In Mexico City, she covered a global school started by Indianapolis philanthropist Christel DeHaan.
Debby was born in Chicago and raised in Edwardsburg, Michigan. In 1972 she was crowned both Miss Edwardsburg and Miss Blossomtime. She is a graduate of her hometown high school and the University of Michigan.
She has two children: son Michael Tirman and daughter Anna Kidwell (husband Jared), and is the proud grandmother of a toddler, Evelyn. Debby was married 37 years to psychologist Richard Tirman until his death in 2019. She now shares her life with partner Richard Howard.
Debby retired in November 2023. She fills her time traveling and working with the League of Women Voters. She also is a supporter of PANCAN, an organization devoted to increasing awareness of pancreatic cancer. Her sister, Lisa, is a survivor of that illness. She is a member of Trinity Episcopal Church and supports St. Richards Episcopal School, Cathedral High School and Butler University – especially the basketball team!