Poetry, Spoken Word, Prose and Print Program

THE IMPORTANCE OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISTS FOR A HEALTHY DEMOCRACY

Host Susan Taylor and guest Miriam Raftery are in conversation about writing novels and short stories but concentrate on news writing for print media. Miriam is the editor and investigative journalist for East County Magazine.

Miriam Raftery is also the producer of news show East County Magazine, one of the first local programs carried on KNSJ reporting on news and events in East County.  Today Sue and Miriam talk at length about writing news articles and the very important job of being an investigative journalist.  Miriam talks about how she became an investigative journalist, the need for tenacity and curiosity to go in-depth to keep the public informed on what is happening—information that might not be covered by other news outlets. 

About East County Magazine

Our mission is to provide in-depth news, views and events coverage for the inland areas in San Diego County, reflecting the broad diversity of people and issues in our region, particularly those under-represented in other media. As nonprofit media, we reflect the public interest—not special interests, with a strong commitment to covering social justice issues,  diverse and mulicultural voices,community concerns, environmental/land use issues, and nonpartisan political  stories in our region’s urban, rural, mountain and desert communities. We also celebrate our region’s attractions and rich cultural heritage, with special sites such as Best of East County, Tribal Beat, People Power, Refugee Voices, Arts and Music, and more.  We reflect your interest–the public interest–not special interests

East County Magazine also founded and operates East County Wildfire & Emergency Alerts, keeping people safe and informed throughout San Diego County via e-mail and Twitter alerts. In addition we produce the East County Magazine radio show on KNSJ 89.1 FM. 

Subscriptions to our weekly e-newsletter and our wildfire/emergency alerts are free public services.

East County Magazine (www.EastCountyMagazine.org)  is an award-winning nonpartisan community news organization most recently in 2024, receiving three awards from  SPJ San Diego: second place, investigative/enterprise story.  East County Magazine has won a multitude of awards–146 major journalism awards. San Diego Press Club named our site the best general interest website and second best news site in San Diego County for 2009. We’ve racked up awards each year since then, including many special awards from the Society of Professional Journalists. Our team of writers has won major prizes for investigative reporting, news, features, multi-cultural coverage, environmental reporting and more.

Wednesday, September 25, 2024 – Tribes Addressing the ‘Forever Chemical’ Problem

Two years after the EPA found high levels of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) contamination in the drinking water at the K-12 tribal school on the Leech Lake Reservation, students and staff are still forced to consume only water brought in from outside the building. Leech Lake is one place tribes are having to respond to the presence of PFAS, a class of man-made chemicals used in fire suppressing foam, water repellents on textiles, and older nonstick cookware. High PFAS exposure is connected to some health problems including cancer and thyroid disease. Nearly 100% of Americans have PFAS in their body. Information specific to Native Americans is limited. We’ll talk with some tribes that are trying to address PFAS in their water and explore what can be done.

GUESTS

Laurie Harper (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), director of education for the Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe

Michael Jacobs (Waccamaw Siouan Tribe), Chief of the Waccamaw Siouan Tribe

Fred Corey, natural resources assistant for the Mi’kmaq Nation

Dr. Kimberly Garrett, environmental health toxicologist at Northeastern University

Tuesday, September 25, 2024

Today Thom will be covering:

Radio Silence: How Progressives Lost the Airwaves

News – Kamala’s campaign office shot up, Haitians fight back against Trump & Vance, and the DOJ is going after monopoly in America…

A sexual assault victim speaks out against Trump, ‘I Tried to Push Him, He Kept Coming Back At Me.’ How can a man like this ever had been elected and a step away from being re-elected?

Dean Obeidallah – Trump just asked Netanyahu to interfere in 2024 election – Say what?! Who else is tried of Trump’s treason chaos?

Theocracy hits ND – Judge sides with Catholic diocese — suspends abortion, IVF and LGBTQ protections in ND

Geeky Science! Traveling makes you live longer! 

May 24, 2024

David Miyashiro: Personalized Education and Community Engagement are Opportunities to help students chart their own success

David Miyashiro is the Superintendent of Cajon Valley Union School District. The district consists of more than 17,000 students in Kindergarten through 8th grade. Under David’s leadership, The White House recognized Cajon Valley School District as one of the “Top 35 District Leaders in Personalized Learning.” As a self-described educator and public servant, David and his team identify opportunities and adapt them for schools in partnership with people across the region. He works to build the buy-in of students, teachers, parents, boards, and the community by engaging them in the process and integrating their feedback to drive success. In the early 2000s, David noticed his students were testing well but not achieving their life outcomes. Inspired by Sir Ken Robinson and his Ted Talk “Do schools kill creativity? David and his colleagues began to shift their approach from test scores as a measure of accountability to personalized education through technology, innovation, and career development through the World of Work. We hope you enjoy this episode.

 stopandtalkpodcast.org

By Miriam Raftery

October 25, 2021 (San Diego) –  East County Magazine tonight received 11 awards in San Diego Press Club’s 48^th annual Excellence In Journalism competition. The honors include three first place awards, recognitions for both our online news site and radio show coverage during the past year’s turbulent times.  ECM’s awards span a broad range of categories, including three of the four awards presented for breaking news. Since its inception in 2008, ECM has won 137 major journalism prizes. See more…