Priya David Clemens Introduced as the New Host of KQED Newsroom

NATIONALLY RECOGNIZED VETERAN ANCHOR AND REPORTER JOINS KQED’S LONG-RUNNING WEEKLY NEWS PROGRAM

San Francisco, CA — KQED announced Priya David Clemens as host of KQED Newsroom, the long-running television weekly news series. The veteran journalist and Bay Area resident has more than 15 years of television news experience working for a variety of national and local outlets, including CBS News, NBC News and KTVU. Clemens replaces Thuy Vu, who left the program in June 2019 after serving nearly six seasons as host. Clemens will make her KQED Newsroom debut on Friday, February 28.

“There’s no other show like KQED Newsroom in the Bay Area. It’s a local journalistic jewel — a rare place for in-depth, substantive on-camera interviews with regional, state and national newsmakers. I’m honored to have the opportunity to serve our community through this stellar and historically significant program.”

KQED Newsroom features engaging roundtable discussions, in–depth reporting, analysis and interviews with newsmakers and Bay Area innovators. The program‘s roots go back to 1968, when it was simply titled Newsroom. Launched in response to a local newspaper strike, the show was the first regional television public media news program and a forerunner of the MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour (now called PBS NewsHour). The series has gone through a handful of iterations over the years, including This Week in Northern California, which was hosted by Belva Davis for nearly two decades. It was rebranded as KQED Newsroom with Thuy Vu as host in 2013.

Clemens’ extensive broadcast journalism background had her crisscrossing the country covering some of the most important stories of the early part of the millennium. As a national correspondent for CBS News (2008-2012), she reported for the CBS Evening News and The Early Show, anchored the CBS Weekend Early Show news desk and filled in as host of the Saturday and Sunday CBS Evening News. At CBS, she covered pivotal moments such as the financial meltdown of 2008, and interviewed such notable figures as Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and Kobe Bryant.

As a general assignment reporter covering breaking news for Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU (2005-2008), she covered a multitude of stories, including a major San Francisco Bay oil spill and the murder trial of journalist Chauncey Bailey. At NBC News (2002-2004), Clemens served as a producer and news associate for NBC Weekend Nightly News, Dateline, Nightly News with Tom Brokaw and News with Brian Williams. She also spent extensive time as an embedded campaign reporter for NBC/MSNBC covering Vice President Dick Cheney’s bid for re-election and Dick Gephardt’s campaign for the Democratic nomination for President. Clemens has also been a journalist at KOIN in Portland, Oregon; WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama; KKFX in Santa Barbara, California; and the Orange County News Channel.

More recently, Clemens served as Director of Public Affairs for the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District, where she managed communications and media for the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Ferry and Golden Gate Transit bus system.

Clemens was born in Chennai, India, and grew up in Virginia, California, Brussels and London. She earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Westmont College and her master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California, where she graduated with honors.

KQED Newsroom airs on Fridays at 7pm on KQED Public Television 9 and repeats over the weekend on both KQED 9 and KQED Plus. It also airs Sundays at 9:30pm on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM. Episodes are available online at kqed.org/newsroom.

About KQED
KQED serves the people of Northern California with a public-supported alternative to commercial media. An NPR and PBS member station based in San Francisco, KQED is home to one of the most listened-to public radio stations in the nation, one of the highest-rated public television services and an award-winning education program helping students and educators thrive in 21st century classrooms. A trusted news source and leader and innovator in interactive technology, KQED takes people of all ages on journeys of exploration — exposing them to new people, places and ideas. kqed.org

About KQED Newsroom
This Emmy-Award-winning weekly television news series features award-winning journalists, engaging roundtable discussions, in-depth reporting and analysis from all KQED News sources, and interviews with newsmakers and Bay Area innovators. It premieres Fridays at 7pm on KQED Public Television 9, and repeats over the weekend on both KQED 9 and KQED Plus. It also airs Sundays at 9:30pm on KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM, and episodes are available online at kqed.org/newsroom.