Bob Phillips is recognized by many people in the four-states for his long career at KODE-TV, the ABC television affiliate in Joplin.  While at the station, he served as news reporter and anchor.  Phillips is well-known for his television news series,  The Phillips File,  highlighting many unique people and stories from around the region.  He also worked on a number of special television productions.  One of his projects from the 1970 s,   Mines and Miners.  is in the Smithsonian Institution.

Cape Girardeau, Missouri.    He graduated from Southern Missouri State College in Springfield, majoring in dramatics, speech corrections, and radio and television broadcasting.

After completing college, Phillips attending school for dramatics and television in Hollywood.  He was employed as Assistant to the Manager of Graumman s Chinese Theatre.

He returned to Missouri as a news specialist.  In the early 1960 s he covered the Kennedy-Nixon presidential campaign visits to the state, as a member of the Missouri Press Corps.  He served as director of KRCO-TV in Jefferson City, and covered the Missouri General Assembly.  Phillips also wrote, produced, and narrated a film for the state of Missouri,  The Second Half Century.   A generation of children around the state watched this film in school.

During his early days at KODE-TV, Phillips anchored the 6:00 and 10:00 news.  His career at KODE included reporting for newscasts and anchoring the morning and noon newscasts.

In 2002, the Joplin Public Library received a grant to preserve his series of news stories,  The Phillips File.   The project involved transferring the hundreds of news reports from videotapes to DVDs, so they can be viewed by future generations.