At KQED, we practice journalism in service to the public, journalism that is rooted in working toward manifesting the unfulfilled promise of America: that all people are created equal and deserving of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, and equal justice for all.
Chief Content Officer Holly Kernan explains achieving that goal requires focusing on the experiences of our entire community,
“I stress to our journalists to really look at the experts on the ground, the people most affected by an issue, and not just consult official sources and ivory tower experts. So, if you are reporting on so-called essential workers, make sure their expertise—that of the workers themselves—is the focus of your coverage. If you are reporting on criminal justice, make sure the people who know the system most intimately, those experiencing it, are part of your coverage and your conversations.”
Having the space for our journalists, researchers and editors to work collaboratively and quickly is essential to covering one of the most populous regions in the world. A modern KQED facility will allow staff to efficiently collaborate on complicated investigative stories and breaking news, and then communicate their findings to you, our community, in a myriad of ways.
KQED has one of the largest news teams on the entire West Coast. We’re a team of specialized reporters in news, science and arts, data journalism, social media, engagement and event producers and an award-winning educational services team. New interview rooms, multiple modern studios linked to public spaces, additional edit suites, podcast studios and state-of-the-art technical infrastructure will support all this creativity and production. In this modern facility, KQED will be able to immediately deliver breaking news and in-depth programming across multiple distribution platforms including radio, television, phone, tablet, computer and smart speakers.
Like the rest of our redesigned home, these improvements are just the tools we use in service of what’s most important: making sure the people of Northern California have the information they need to actively participate in a vigorous democracy. Kernan continues,
"KQED’s journalism is rooted in values like respect, empathy, fairness, independence, integrity and the protection of fundamental human rights. We host deep and long conversations meant to explore ideas, our future, our past and our systems; some of our stories inspire and provide relief; other coverage is about exposing inequality and injustice; we attempt to hold the powerful accountable and we scrutinize the systems that are supposed to serve our society and our democracy. We practice journalism in the public interest. And, unlike commercial media, we do this not to bring profit to shareholders, but to support an informed and involved public."
Learn more about how you can support service journalism and the campaign for KQED’s future here.