KQED NEWSROOM with Thuy Vu and Scott Shafer Premieres Friday, October 18, at 8pm

New multiplatform program features interviews, in-depth reporting and engaging roundtable discussion segments.

All episodes plus exclusive online content at KQEDnews.org.

KQED News is proud to announce the premiere of its new news and public affairs series KQED NEWSROOM on television, radio and online. The multiplatform program features three-time Emmy Award–winning journalist and anchor Thuy Vu as host, and Scott Shafer, the award-winning host of The California Report, as senior correspondent. The weekly television series premieres in primetime on Friday, October 18, at 8pm on KQED Public Television 9, following Washington Week, which moves to 7:30pm. It will also be broadcast on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM on Sundays at 6pm, beginning October 20. All episodes plus exclusive online content will be available at KQEDNews.org.

KQED NEWSROOM builds on KQED’s long history of innovative news coverage and reporting. The title is a nod to KQED’s groundbreaking 1968 program, which was the first nightly news series on public television and directly influenced the 1975 national launch of The MacNeil/Lehrer Report. KQED NEWSROOM will include an ongoing roundtable discussion segment, as well as new segments featuring stories from all KQED News sources with interviews, debates and field reporting.

“Our viewers hold KQED to a very high standard. KQED NEWSROOM builds on the in-depth coverage they expect from us and is one example of how KQED is adapting to serve the changing needs of our audience,” said Michael Isip, KQED’s vice president of television. “The KQED NEWSROOM team, on air and behind the scenes, comes to the table with decades of experience in local and national journalism. They are the right team to implement a new vision of a weekly news series that is fully integrated into the larger KQED News operation.”

Along with Vu and Shafer, the KQED NEWSROOM production team includes executive producer Joanne Elgart Jennings (PBS NewsHour, This Week in Northern California, Sound Tracks: Music Without Borders, KQED/CIR news and public affairs specials), and producers Monica Lam (Center for Investigative Reporting, PBS and Independent Lens) and Robin Epstein (This Week In Northern California, Check, Please! Bay Area, Bay Window).

The KQED NEWSROOM editorial team is interested in engaging the Bay Area public in an ongoing dialogue about issues often ignored by traditional news media. Leading up to the premiere, Vu, Shafer and reporters from KQED Public Radio have met with community leaders, newsmakers, local business owners and residents at Open Newsroom forums to discuss the challenges facing their communities. Two events have already taken place in San Rafael and San Jose with more than 100 attendees at each event. The next two Open Newsrooms will be held at HUB Oakland on Tuesday, October 1, at 6pm and at San Francisco’s Bayview Opera House on Thursday, October 10, at 12pm. For more information and to RSVP, please visit KQEDnews.org.

About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. Home to the most listened-to public radio station in the nation, one of the highest rated public television services and a leader in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas.

While other news organizations have shrunk, KQED has expanded its efforts to cover the issues and events that are important to the Bay Area. As the most trusted source of news in the Bay Area, KQED News is now a multiplatform operation with offices and bureaus in San Francisco, San Jose, Sacramento, Fresno and Los Angeles. KQED News offerings on television, radio and online include KQED NEWSROOM, current affairs specials produced in collaboration with The Center for Investigative Reporting, The California Report, Forum with Michael Krasny, 18 news broadcasts on KQED Public Radio, daily and the popular blogs News Fix, State of Health, Mindshift and The Lowdown. Stories from all KQED news programs are featured online at KQEDnews.org.