Brazos Matters: KBTX's Rusty Surette (Part 1): Becoming Rusty

At 15, he began videotaping fires and crime scenes based on police-scanner tips and selling the footage to his hometown TV station. Three decades later, Rusty Surette has built a vast and loyal following. Many know him from KBTX’s evening newscasts, while hundreds of thousands connect with him on social media.

In the first of a two-part conversation on "Brazos Matters," Surette tells host Jay Socol about his almost accidental rise to on-air anchor just as the events of Sept. 11, 2001, unfolded; his opinions about the trend of stations doing away with their longtime anchors; and what it's like having a devoted audience that spans teenagers to the elderly and stretches from the Brazos Valley to overseas.

In Part 2 of their conversation, Socol asks Surette to explain his compulsive approach to social media. Some of his answers may surprise you.

Brazos Matters is a production of Aggieland's Public Media, 90.9 KAMU FM & KAMU-TV, members of Texas A&M University's Division of Community Engagement.