Last month, producer Megan Burke and I were trying to figure out how we were going to tell the story of the local job market for this month's episode of our newly revamped public affairs show, Envision San Diego. We knew things were tough out there -- the unemployment rate is the highest it's been in more than a decade. The challenge really was to make all the statistics meaningful. We decided we would profile unemployed people -- it seemed like a no-brainer.

But finding unemployed people, (there are 100,000 of you in the county), is harder than it sounds. I put an ad on Craig's list, our web team sent out a message on Twitter, and Megan asked KPBS program director John Decker to air something you don't often hear on KPBS, radio announcements asking for your help. Decker agreed and for nearly a week we asked you to email us if you were unemployed and wanted to tell your story. You responded. You'll meet one of our listeners this Thursday, Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. on KPBS Television as she courageously describes her nearly year-long unemployment struggle. She was a casualty of the mortgage meltdown. The radio announcements worked; we found interview subjects, but it achieved something else. It gave you, our listeners and viewers another level of ownership in public broadcasting. You are reflected in our storytelling.

Our goal for the new Envision San Diego is to reflect our diverse community in the stories we tell. So often we the media, turn to the same experts, the same community organizations, the same politicians, to attempt to make sense of the news of the day. It is at times, unavoidable on daily and even hourly deadlines. We're lucky at Envision San Diego. We are given more time to find and tell stories in a different way. And so, here's where you come in again. We hope to include you on a regular basis. From time to time, you will hear us on the radio asking for your help. And now, you will even see us on this website asking you to tell us your story. I truly believe everyone has a story to tell. Here is your chance to get involved in the journalistic process and know that you are helping to shape the stories you'll see on KPBS Television. You'll still get the facts and analysis from the experts, but you'll also see how the statistics affect real people.

This month, we're asking you to tell us your story about how you are managing in these difficult economic times. Rent, gas and food are all more expensive this year than last, but wages are stagnant. How are you getting by? You can post your story here in the public comments or send an email to . So, join the conversation. We really do want to hear from you.

"So today we rededicate a part of the airwaves -- which belong to all the people -- and we dedicate them for the enlightenment of all the people." -- LBJ, Nov. 7, 1967

Forty years ago today, President Lyndon Johnson ceremoniously signed the congressional act that created the modern public broadcasting system in America.

Seems like a good day to quit KPBS.

It's sheer coincidence, of course, but let me ponder the non-connection.

I was only 11 years old when LBJ did the deed that Republican presidents have been trying to undo ever since. At the time, his signature promised a bold vision to future generations that television and radio would offer more than a "vast wasteland." It would bring culture and art, science and history, news and public affairs, and non-commercial educational programming to young and old.

All I knew then was that there was something different, something authentic on my family PBS channel. Only over the years would I discover the magnetic attraction this bold vision would have upon me.

Born the son of a broadcast newsman, I grew up with an enduring interest in the role of journalism. But it wasn't until I delivered my nervous first on-air utterance -- in 1978 -- giving the 3:00 a.m. ID for my college radio station (WUOG-FM in Athens, Georgia) that I would actually become a part of public radio.

Being among the first to introduce the world to REM and the B-52's was a perfectly auspicious prelude to what would later become a career in delivering first word of more serious fare: John Lennon's assassination, Mt. St. Helen's exploding, the San Francisco earthquake, war in the gulf, and so on -- up to and including last month's horrendous firestorm in San Diego County.

Somewhere over my 29 years in public radio and television (a pairing that will soon converge into "public media"), I made a conscious choice to keep my roots in local community service. Perhaps it was the toll the networks took on my dad (he worked exceedingly long hours), or perhaps it was my own need to remain authentic, close to the audience. Whatever it was, I was determined to stay local and make local news great.

I leave KPBS after 12 years and on good terms. Together, with enlightened management and a strong team, we built something unique and durable here for the people of San Diego. Or they built us, I guess.

The technology may be shifting below us, but the journalistic and the cultural and the educational content will continue -- like a green oasis in an even vaster wasteland.

And I take comfort in having served that bold vision of the '60s. With some luck, I'll stay true to that promise, whatever the next 40 years may bring.

Thanks.

-- Michael Marcotte was KPBS News Director from 1995 to 2007, and directed the Jacobs Project for Reporting Excellence at KPBS. He's moving to Santa Barbara to become a public media consultant. You can contact him directly at .

Four years didn't erase the look of the sky or the smell in the air; they were the first warning signs fire was here. Only this time, these fires would burn faster, bigger and even more erratically then the Cedar Fire. And they would chase 500,000 people from their homes.

By early Sunday afternoon, KPBS News Director Mike Marcotte was on his way to the newsroom and reporters were called at home and told to be on alert. Hours later the newsroom was in stage five of the crisis management plan, meaning the station would provide non-stop coverage. KPBS would stay continuously on the air for the next 75 hours, despite fire cutting power to its own transmitter. The first voices you may have heard Sunday evening: Mike Marcotte, Scott Horsley, Tom Fudge, Andrew Phelps, Alan Ray and John Decker. Reporters were in the field, getting information about the fire, about traffic, about where to find shelter for thousands forced from their homes.

But the voice that meant so much to everyone listening, the voice that told us where the roads were blocked, where flames were burning, how the smoke smelled, how the sky looked, was yours. We opened up the phone lines and you called. You called from your homes, from your cars, from the fields where you were trying to corral your horses and keep them safe. You told others which roads were clear and which were blocked or stalled with traffic. You offered your own vehicles and trailers to move people and their animals. You were listening to us because you needed information and in the end, you became the best source of information during those early hours when the worst was on its way.

I remember one call. I was driving from one evacuation center to another, listening to Tom Fudge and Scott Horsley take phone calls. It was about 10 at night. A woman called and said her son had been text messaging her. He was standing on a concrete slab in the middle of a field on a chicken ranch in Ramona, trying to fight the fires. He was trapped and "losing the battle" she said. Tom and Scott tried to get more information. Where was he? Maybe someone could help if they knew his location. The woman said he was texting just a few words at a time; "losing the battle" were the words I remember her saying more than once. Tom and Scott tried to give her comfort. If he had a phone, then maybe he could get help. Later, a man called and said some cell phones have a GPS; maybe the man trapped could use his to tell rescue workers where he was. It may have been a long shot, but it was something to hang a little hope on. (Click play on the audio player at the top of this post to hear the call.)

This woman called a radio station, hoping someone would hear her plea for help. All KPBS could do was let her tell her story. Maybe someone out there could help. That was how so many of the calls went that night and into the morning. People asking which way to turn on a dark, smoky road -- others giving them direction.

Every morning, a team of KPBS employees wakes up so early that bartenders across San Diego are still yelling "last call" when the team is driving to work. Their day starts waaay before yours, so they can be ready to tell you what's happening in San Diego -- and the world -- as soon as your alarm clock goes off.

It's a new team that's working to do that, too. KPBS' Morning Edition is new and improved.

Want to meet the team and find out what's different? Check out this video. (And excuse the eyebags. It's super early.)

Whether you love him or hate him, San Diego City Attorney Mike Aguirre is good at grabbing headlines by grabbing issues of public concern.

This week, he issued a report entitled, "KPBS Abrogated its Duty to Maintain Objectivity and Balance in its Local Public Affairs Programming by Cancelling the Full Focus Program (PDF)." I want to be among the first to thank him.

Oh, I don't think he makes a very good case against the station. Even his bold display of KPBS' internal emails fails to substantiate anything approaching an abrogation of balance and objectivity. In fact, I'm afraid Mr. Aguirre may have embarrassed himself and his office for pressing what appears to be a personal vendetta against an editor for the Union-Tribune who frequents our air.

For readers who don't have the time to digest Mr. Aguirre's report, you should know he establishes several facts: that KPBS operates as a public service with funding from various sources, that KPBS is obliged to an ethical code defined by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and (among others) the Public Broadcasting Service, and that KPBS cancelled its daily television public affairs program in August. 

Where Mr. Aguirre departs from the facts is in his assertion that the cancellation amounts to a violation of ethics. Taking Full Focus off the air was certainly a loss for our community -- because he's right when he says it was one of the few sources of balanced, in-depth civic discourse on San Diego television. But it was removed for failing to draw viewers, which amounts to a responsible programming decision, not a dereliction of duty.

But what is even further afield in his report, departing from its very premise, is his concern with a Friday morning radio program, Editors Roundtable.

By switching the topic to KPBS Radio (89.5 FM), Mr. Aguirre completely ignores the significant investment KPBS has made there in its local news, public affairs and news analysis. Editors Roundtable is but one hour among the more than 15 hours a week that we produce to help our region better know itself.

And if the bottom line in his report is to suggest that U-T editorial page editor Bob Kittle is some kind of controlling force in KPBS programming, that's just plain silly. Mr. Kittle certainly informs the producers about what topics he can speak about (the two times per month he appears). And if Mr. Aguirre is upset that Cox Channel Four only seems to cablecast those episodes featuring Kittle (and Tim McClain and John Warren), well then he should take that up with Cox. But Mr. Kittle appears as a guest of KPBS and does so with all due respect for being invited.

But back to my premise. I want to thank Mr. Aguirre for his time and attention to the matter. It's a legitimate concern that San Diego be covered with depth and objectivity. And it's a righteous position to take -- insisting that a single newspaper editor not dominate the civic agenda of a community. And, frankly, until this, how much time has the average San Diegan spent pondering the ethics and standards of its local media?

Mr. Mike Aguirre deserves our thanks for caring about San Diego... and about the editorial health of KPBS.

Sincerely: Thank you, sir.

We'd have a better city if more people cared as much as you.

-- Michael Marcotte is the news director for KPBS. Please read our guidelines before posting comments.

See also: Michael Aguirre spoke on These Days about this issue (he appears 28min into the program).

Today, we were in the news.

The Union Tribune ran a story on how City Attorney Michael Aguirre is questioning the cancellation of Full Focus as well as how participants are selected on Editors Roundtable.

There is something a little scary when the tables are turned and, suddenly, your news organization itself is the subject of a news story. I wanted to know what was going on. Nothing official has been said about this situation here at the KPBS building.

This morning, I interviewed KPBS General Manager Doug Myrland about the records requests.

Above is the audio from that 14-minute talk that I had with Doug. It's unedited for a reason -- I believe that the standards of transparency needs to be higher when a news organization looks into itself.

P.S. For those of you who got into the infamous conversation with Doug on Off Mic about the Full Focus cancellation, he addresses it about 9 minutes into the discussion.

Update: KPBS general manager Doug Myrland spoke about the cancellation on These Days.

The last day of July marked more than the end of the month. It was also the last day for Full Focus, the daily television news program I'd hosted for more than four years. I found out it was the last day just hours before we taped that final episode and it was as though the day suddenly slowed down, the way film does in slow motion.

The radio and television business is replete with stories of series that come and go. And they always do go -- although some take longer to disappear than others. In all of its iterations, Full Focus had been on the air for about 8 years, starting as monthly programs hosted by KPBS Radio reporters on location to eventually become the nightly studio-based shows divided into four segments.

The vision for Full Focus changed as the ideas flowed in. We considered "video kiosks" where people could record personal stories. We included community commentaries in Public Square. And we recently took the show on the road, shooting segments all over the county. Ratings climbed that week and we hoped more field location would translate into a larger audience. Viewers were passionate about Full Focus and its potential, but the numbers remained small by current television standards.

Vision is what makes life exciting. Vision is challenging and sometimes unattainable, and needs to be pursued by imaginative, dedicated, talented, daring people. Full Focus had those people. Natalie Walsh, executive producer, was a ferocious advocate for the program. Pat Finn, whose writing skills gave class to the segments she produced, oversaw the highly popular Friday "Top Stories" wrap-up of the week's news with local reporters and a variety of hosts, including Michael Marcotte and Alison St John from the KPBS News staff. Managing editor Graciela Sevilla is a respected journalist with years of experience behind her and a deep knowledge of the community. Producer Mary Garbesi is one of those rare multi-talented professionals who can produce, edit, work in radio or television, is in love with culture and the arts, and became a top public affairs producer. Reporters Amita Sharma, Joanne Faryon, Rebecca Tolin, and Heather Hill brought intelligence, dedication, and freshness to the program. All of their work was enhanced by videographers/editors, and production personnel whose pride in their work was evident each day. Some of them will be re-assigned at KPBS. Others will be grabbed up by smart organizations.

Sometimes in life, timing is absolutely perfect. In this case, time did not befriend Full Focus. The visions remained vigorous, while the resources and the audience did not keep pace. The execution of the program was the envy of television professionals who saw us devoting time and considerable thought to every aspect of each show, from careful writing to thorough research to deep consideration of topics to be covered with balance and fairness.

KPBS Television has had its share of canceled series over the 40 years of its existence. But next year or the year after, someone's vision will shape another local program that will find its own way to cover San Diego's important stories and ask the necessary questions.

Meanwhile, I turn my energies to other projects at the station. For me, KPBS remains a strong source for local news and public affairs on the radio and online. I'm hoping that soon KPBS Television will find another vehicle for covering what's going on in our community.

-- Gloria Penner was host of Full Focus for four years and has hosted over a dozen series on KPBS over the last 37 years. She continues to host Editors Roundtable, with additional contributions to KPBS Online, Envision San Diego and other reporting. Please read our guidelines before posting comments.

A High-Tech TV Detector Van (BBC)

All five members of San Diego's congressional delegation have voted to protect federal funding for public broadcasting. President Bush tried to kill a $420 million subsidy for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. But Republicans Duncan Hunter, Darrell Issa and Brian Bilbray, as well as Democrats Susan Davis and Bob Filner, joined an overwhelming House majority and killed that idea. (So why is it so hard to get them on the air?)

House rejects Bush plan to eliminate public broadcasting subsidies

The 357-72 vote demonstrated the enduring political strength of public broadcasting. The outcome was never in doubt, unlike a fight two years ago when Republicans tried but failed to slash public broadcasting subsidies.

[...]

"It is providing a voice for America, a noncommercial, independent voice that is sadly lacking. It isn't available any place else in the million channels on our cable networks," said Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Oregon.

And so public broadcasting is saved again. Every year, the government threatens to tear us down, and every year, we squeak by. It's hard enough to survive on donations, especially in an era when newsrooms are getting axed in favor of other programming. (At KPBS, government subsidies make up some 14.5 percent of the budget, donations nearly 40 percent.)

Back in June, I visited the BBC in London and salivated. There, the government doesn't just protect public broadcasting — everyone with a TV is forced to pay for public broadcasting. And people go along with it. To sniff out the deadbeats, police are said to patrol the streets in high-tech detector vans. (Many Brits think this is a conspiracy.) The fine for freeloading is something like ?1,000, or about $2,000.

And you thought our pledge drives were annoying.