New KPBS blog shines light on diversity

Morgan M. Hurley | Downtown News Editor

KPBS, San Diego’s Public Broadcast network located on the campus of San Diego State University, has always been an integral part of San Diego and its communities.

It’s mission statement is this: “KPBS news serves the people of the San Diego region with trustworthy, in-depth information that allows the community to hold its leaders accountable. We show how global and local current affairs change our lives and how San Diego changes the world.”

KPBS accomplishes its mission through a variety of media and outlets, radio, television and digital media / online.

One group, led by 18-year KPBS veteran Monica Medina, is now using their prominent position in the media market to reach out and honor members of the local San Diego area.

Medina’s title is Director of Diversity, Engagement and Grants. That’s a big title and it encompasses a great deal.  The Grants aspect carried over from previous roles she held within the organization because she is very good at what she does.

As Director of Diversity and Engagement, Medina initiates and oversees outreach campaigns within the greater San Diego area, focusing in such community areas as military, mental health, aging, Native-American, LGBT, Asian and Pacific Islanders, African-American, Latino and Hispanic, Jewish, disability and women.

For the last couple of years, KPBS has honored people within these communities as “local heroes,” and now Medina is taking that concept a step further.

In November, she launched a new blog, called, “Hey Neighbor” on the KPBS website.

There are eight categories for local heroes: Native American Month, Hispanic Heritage Month, Disability Awareness Month, LGBT Pride Month, Black History Month, Jewish American Heritage Month, Women’s History Month, and Asian Pacific American Heritage Month. Two from each category are chosen, generally one male and one female.

An avid blogger in her own right (monicastangledweb.com – “my keen observations and ironic musings”), Medina has taken to writing on the blog twice per month about outstanding people within the community who aren’t necessarily honored with a hero nomination or award.

Hey Neighbor, inspired by the universal appeal of Mister Rogers and his decades-long request for viewers to be his neighbor, is now a bi-monthly blog that sheds a shining light on those who dedicate their lives making the world better for other people.

The website calls it, “a blog about San Diego and the people and places that make this an extraordinary region to live.”

It does much more than that, it lifts up the people are usually doing the heavy lifting themselves. Since first launching in November, Medina has profiled a half dozen people for the blog, including fellow KPBSer Stephanie Bergsma, Tom K. Wong whose scary childhood as an undocumented alien she details with great care, Urban League President Ray King, and others who are adding to the list of local heroes.

In December, Medina expanded the blog to include pertinent, family recipes – the only requirement is that they have a back-story – from guest bloggers in the region.

“Basically I am hoping as word gets out as people become more aware of the blog, they’ll contact me if they know of a story, of if they have a story that’s pretty extraordinary – an ordinary person that has done something extraordinary while  giving back to the community,” Medina said.

Medina’s Hey Neighbor team consists of her staff, Ashley Rodriguez, Trisha Richter, Clare Pister and Interactive Stratgies Manager, Leng Caloh.

KPBS General Manager Tom Karlo, a 40-year veteran of KPBS, is a big supporter of the Medina’s work and mission.

“We celebrate diversity throughout the year and we tell the stories of those communities and I want the website to reflect it more,” he said. “And I want people of those different communities to come to our website and tell their stories and we would promote those things on the air.

Karlo said he encourages his staff to support events and celebrations that take place throughout the various communities that exist within San Diego, and he goes as often as his schedule permits, himself.

This month, the 16 local heroes from 2012 will be celebrated by KPBS and its sponsoring partner, Union Bank, on Tuesday, Feb. 5, at 5:30 p.m. at the San Diego Natural History Museum.

Stay tuned for future articles on other initiatives of this group.

For more information about Hey Neighbor, visit  kpbs.org/news/blogs/hey-neighbor/.  To nominate a local hero, visit kpbs.org/news/blogs/hey-neighbor/local-heroes/.