Journalist Roundtable by Tom Reeser

It can be challenging to be informed about our north county community. We DO have many informative ‘newspaper’ resources (though many are on-line instead of actual news-print) Editor Steve Marcotte covers Oceanside with the OsideNews for example. North County receives good coverage (with an Encinitas focus) via Editor Tony Cagala and The Coast News. And Maggie Avants, the Managing Editor for the Seaside Courier covers our coastal cities and has some talented and informed columnists like Thomas K. Arnold who used to opine for the North County Times. The San Diego Union-Tribune covers North County with knowledgeable reporters like Edward Sifuentes , Phil Diehl and columnists like Logan Jenkins. 

KPBS’s Alison St. John covers north county, and her informative stories run on both the KPBS radio & television channels. Our commercial TV channels provide some coverage of north county, but how in-depth can you get in 30-90 second packages?

PREP_KENT DAVY AND FD KELLIE DANTZLER 

PHIL DIEHL

SET_JOURNALISTS

It’s hard to beat KOCT’s Journalist Roundtable for in-depth coverage of north county issues. First of all, we have a talented group of journalist starting with Host Ken Davy, the former Editor for the North County Times. He is joined by Alison St. John and Logan Jenkins, (although Logan was absent in Feb and our thanks to Phil Diehl, another veteran North County resident and reporter, for filling in.)

GREENROOM_ROCKY CHAVEZ, JOSE APONTE, TOM REESER

SET_FORMAL_ROCKY CHAVEZ

SET_FORMAL_CARL DEMAIO 

MONITOR_JOSE APONTE AND JOURNALISTS

SET_CANDID_ESTHER SANCHE

Our February 4^th Journalist Roundtable is a good example of north county focused programming:

·         Assemblyman Rocky Chavez talked about California politics and his run for a US Senate seat. (Note: only 4 days later he announced on KOGO Radio (hosted by Carl DeMaio) of his decision to step out of the US Senate race and run to retain his Assembly seat! KOCT will have a Special JRT in April with ALL the candidates for this office—stay tuned!)

·         Former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio explained why he will wait till 2017 or later to pursue a Pension Reform initiative.

·         Jose Aponte, the Library Director for San Diego County, was asked why the Regional Task Force on the Homeless asked the county libraries to join their organization.

·         Councilmember Ester Sanchez (Oceanside) discussed the major changes to South Coast Highway that will occur by March of this year.  She believes the changes will make the road safer for pedestrians and bicyclists.

SET_CONVERSATION_ESTHER SANCHEZ AND JOURNALISTS

SET_CONVERSATION_JOSE APONTE AND JOURNALISTS

SET_ROUNDTABLE_CARL DEMAIO AND JOURNALISTS

Each of these interviews are over 10 minutes in length which allows follow-up questions from the journalists, but they also give the viewer time to learn about these important issues and topics. We air a new ‘live’ program on the first Thursday of every month at 6 pm.  Too busy to sit in front of your TV and watch these programs on KOCT’s Channel 18?  Then watch them while you wait at the DMV or auto repair shop on your Smart Phone or Tablet!

We are inundated with news and information about the world and national politics by cable news and political websites, but it’s your local politicians and agencies that have the biggest impact on your lives. So it’s important to stay informed about North County issues by reading our local newspaper, listening to public radio and watching KOCT.

Remember: Tune into your community by watching KOCT-Your Community Channel. 

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