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KCET'S Award-Winning News Magazine 'SoCal Connected' Combines Signature Field Reporting with Studio Interviews for New Nightly Format

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Val

Zavala will Anchor Nightly Broadcast

Madeleine

Brand Joins as Special Contributor

 

NEW

SEASON BEGINS OCTOBER 29 AT 7 PM

Los

Angeles,

CA

- October 9, 2012 - KCET's

award-winning news magazine, SoCal Connected (www.socalconnected.org), is making big changes as it enters its

fifth season. First, it will move from a weekly format to a daily format,

combining its acclaimed field reports with in studio interviews. The new format

will also include daily news wrap-ups, featuring local, national and

international headlines. The show will air daily at 7 p.m. with an encore

episode at 10:30 p.m., beginning Monday, Oct. 29, 2012. 

Val Zavala,

who celebrates her 25th year with KCET, will continue to anchor the nightly

broadcast and report on top stories. She will be joined by special contributor

Madeleine Brand who will offer her signature interviews as part of the

newscast.  Brand comes to

SoCal

Connected

from KPCC, where the

Madeleine

Brand Show

was highly rated and won numerous awards, including the 2012

Golden Mike Award for the best news and public affairs program from the RTNA.

Prior to KPCC, Brand worked for NPR for 13 years, most recently as host of Day to Day. This marks Brand's first regularly

scheduled television appearances. 

"SoCal Connected will continue its tradition

of covering a wide range of stories, from around the corner to around the

world," said Bret Marcus, KCET's Chief Content Officer and SoCal Connected's executive producer.

"We have one of the strongest producing/reporting teams in Southern California, and are honored to add Madeleine to

that group. She is a terrific broadcaster who has developed a loyal following

among both listeners and newsmakers".

Marcus also

announced the appointment of Rebecca Haggerty as his co-executive producer.

Haggerty is an award-winning producer at

SoCal

Connected

who has vast experience, including ten years producing for Dateline NBC in New York. Returning for the fifth season are

award winning investigative producer Karen Foshay who will now function as senior

producer of investigations, and producers Dina Demetrius, Angela Shelley and

producer/correspondent Vince Gonzales. The broadcast producer is Jeff Kaufman.

The coordinating producer is Linda Burns. Also returning are correspondents

Laurel Erickson, Jennifer London and Judy Muller, among others. 

Last season, SoCal Connected dominated local

television news awards, winning 16 Los Angeles Press Club Awards, more than any

other TV station, including the prestigious "Public Service Award" for exposing

lavish spending at the Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA). KCET is only

the second news organization to receive the award. In addition, the series won

three Los Angeles Area Emmy® Awards last month. In its five-year history, the

program has also won the two most prestigious awards in broadcasting: the

George Foster Peabody Award and the Alfred I DuPont Columbia Award, both for

investigative reporting.

ABOUT

SOCAL CONNECTED

SoCal Connected, winner of the Peabody

and duPont-Columbia awards, 17 Emmy® Awards, 19 Golden Mikes, 41 LA Press Club

Awards, two Gracie Awards, and three regional Edward R. Murrow Awards,

including Best News Documentary and

Los

Angeles

Magazine's "Best New Local TV

Program" of 2009, airs

nightly at 7 p.m. with encores at 10:30 p.m. exclusively on KCET. For more

information, to view episodes online or to leave comments, please visit www.socalconnected.org.

SoCal Connected is made

possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation serving

the Los Angeles

community since 1952; Jim and Anne Rothenberg; the MaddocksBrown Foundation;

The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation; The California Endowment;

and by UCLA. 

ABOUT KCET

On-air, online

and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational

enrichment of Southern and Central California.

KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the

finest public television programs from around the world. KCET currently

produces the Emmy®, duPont-Columbia and Peabody Award-winning SoCal Connected, a hard-hitting

prime-time weekly television news program that examines the issues and people

of Southern California. Throughout its 48-year

history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news

and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions,

its quality educational family and children's programs, its outreach and

community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported

community institution. For additional information about KCET productions,

web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit

kcet.org.

 # # #

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