SACRAMENTO – Every morning, Jack Kavanagh drinks himself a cup of coffee or tea, pads down the short hallway, passes the dining room, and turns left into his small home office, where he brings California to the world.
It has been his process for decades, in all kinds of upheavals and events – social, political, natural and human.
Kavanagh, a retired TV news anchor, has documented the policy and personalities behind those developments one selected section at a time, complete with links, so that others can follow in his footsteps, feel the spirit of the state and take what they want.
California: Unbiased and unvarnished.
What began as a brief for his colleagues at a Sacramento television station has developed a worldwide following, an achievement notable not only for its length — Kavanagh’s catalog may be the longest-running news aggregator in the state — but for all the things his website is not.
There are no flash images in Rough & Tumble. There are no eye-catching videos, no collective comments or agenda, and no jokes or snark to grease the gears of the endless political machine.
There are just headlines and brief summaries, as simply presented and unadorned as Kavanagh himself. “The key,” he said, is “trust” — making sure the article is credible and worth the reader’s time.
“It all comes down to that. And now, with the false age of AI and all the other social media and stuff like that, it’s even more important. It’s even more different.”
Kavanagh, 78, is a New Englander by birth and a Californian by choice.
He grew up in Providence, RI, and by his own account was aimless until his 21st year. One night, in June 1968, Kavanagh watched a small black-and-white television in his bedroom as the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy was broadcast live. Fascinated, he knew from that moment what he wanted to do with his life.
A low-level job at a local radio station led to an on-air spot at its TV company, where Kavanagh’s big break came in 1978 when a major snowstorm hit the Northeast. His coverage of the race earned him national notice and, two years later, an offer to move to a larger market in Milwaukee. He was ready to go, when another offer came from a TV station in the West.
“Do you know how many nanoseconds it takes,” Kavanagh asked casually, “to make a decision between Milwaukee, Wisc., and Sacramento, Calif.?”
Especially after a snow storm or two.
Two television reporting Emmys adorn Jack Kavanagh’s home office in Sacramento.
(Sara Nevis/For The Times)
Kavanagh had never set foot in the state and part of his California learning curve was consuming as many newspapers – back when they were full – as possible. He saw a pile that remained untouched each day in the newsroom; Many of his colleagues, he said, were too busy to go inside. So he started typing a summary of the top articles and put copies in people’s mailboxes.
When the Internet was still in its infancy — Kavanagh guesses the year was 1994, anyway — he started putting his comendum online, for those working at the Stockton station to share.
There was no interest. But people in the capital began to notice. Kavanagh’s daily coverage developed an audience among political insiders — lawmakers, lobbyists, legal staff — and a following that grew to include other journalists and, eventually, students across California and beyond.
Rough & Tumble – the word captures the sweat and grit of politics – has continued uninterrupted for 30 years and more. Meanwhile, Kavanagh has missed a few days here and there.
That includes 2004, when he had quadruple bypass surgery. Once, when Kavanagh was suffering from ulcerative colitis, he brought his laptop and worked from a hospital bed. (The laptop also accompanies Kavanagh and his devoted wife of 42 years while on tour.)
Kavanagh usually starts early every morning to scan dozens of news sites. He covers the biggest news stories of the day. He also looks at trends and stories that connect the dots, grouped under sub-headings – AI, water, housing, education and the like.
“I want it to be a piece of advice for anyone in a Fortune 500 company, or a kid in high school somewhere,” Kavanagh said over lunch at a favorite Mexican restaurant. “I want them both to be able to zoom in on this and figure out what’s going on and move on to something else.”
Considering his global audience, he updates his site with new articles starting in the afternoon. (The math allows Kavanagh to watch as the world wakes up and students from as far away as Russia and China, represented by the blue dot, start popping up on his computer.) In all, he said, he spends four to five hours a day on his one-man business.
Rough & Tumble gets about 1.1 million page views a year, Kavanagh said, and while it’s not a big moneymaker, the business allows him to write many of his subscriptions. A small amount of advertising also helps to pay for the occasional trip.
Years after leaving the television business and a brief career as a news coach, Kavanagh runs the site as a form of community service and a way to stay engaged and sane. He is still attracted to the home environment he found. “Every day,” he said, “I learn something new about California that I didn’t know yesterday.”
Kavanagh has no succession plan. He said Rough & Tumble will end the day it ends — or sooner, if artificial intelligence gives Kavanagh his role as host, newsgatherer and California guide.
Either way, it will be a loss.
