KCET'S Award-Winning News Magazine 'SoCal Connected' Combines Signature Field Reporting with Studio Interviews for New Nightly Format
Val
Zavala will Anchor Nightly Broadcast
Madeleine
Brand Joins as Special Contributor
NEW
SEASON BEGINS OCTOBER 29 AT 7 PM
Losaward-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 toSoCal
Connected
from KPCC, where theMadeleine
Brand Show
was highly rated and won numerous awards, including the 2012Golden 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
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 atSoCal
Connected
who has vast experience, including ten years producing for Dateline NBC inaward 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
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 andLos
Angeles
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
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
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
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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