HOUSTON — Orko Manna is a two-time Emmy Award-winning journalist who joined the KHOU 11 news team in October 2024.
Before moving to Houston, Orko was a reporter and fill-in anchor in Sacramento, California. During his time there, Orko was on the frontlines of major wildfires across Northern California – including the Park Fire, the fourth largest wildfire in California history. He was sent all over the region to cover some of the state’s biggest stories, including the mass shooting in Half Moon Bay, the tsunami threat in Santa Cruz and crucial political happenings at the California State Capitol. Orko won an Emmy Award for his reporting on a group of local Russians working to help the Ukrainian community during the Russia-Ukraine War.
Prior to Sacramento, Orko worked in Las Vegas, Nevada. He led his station’s coverage of the 2020 presidential election, where he interviewed all the major contenders, including three interviews with President Joe Biden. Orko won an Emmy Award for his work covering anti-Asian hate amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Orko was sent to Ridgecrest, California to cover a string of devastating earthquakes there and did live reports for stations across the West Coast. He was also sent to Carson City, Nevada to report on special legislative sessions as state leaders tried to deal with the impacts of coronavirus.
Orko started his career in Des Moines, Iowa. He spent three days doing wall-to-wall live reports on historic flooding in the northern part of the state. He also covered the Nicole Finn murder trial, one of the most high-profile child abuse cases in Iowa history. That landed Orko a guest interview spot on HLN, CNN’s sister channel, to discuss the trial on national television. Additionally, Orko stayed overnight at the Iowa State Capitol as lawmakers discussed medical marijuana expansion. That story won him 1st Place in Political Coverage from the Iowa Broadcast News Association.
Orko graduated Summa Cum Laude from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University. He majored in Broadcast Journalism and Legal Studies. While at Northwestern, Orko won several regional and national awards through his work as a reporter, producer, anchor and eventually news director for the campus television station, the Northwestern News Network. He also received a global reporting and research grant from the university to travel to New Delhi, India to investigate the country’s rape crisis.
Orko is originally from Chicago – and is now thrilled to call H-Town home! He is excited to tell stories important to the community and hopes to make a difference through his reporting. When not working, Orko enjoys running, hiking and finding the best local spots to grab a bite to eat. Feel free to contact Orko with any story ideas or if you just want to say hi! You can email him at omanna@khou.com. You can also connect with him on Facebook, Instagram and X.