Mark Danielson, General Manager, NPG of California and Jim Lemon. Courtesy photo
CENTRAL COAST — What makes a news story pitch perfect? Local broadcast media managers focus on this and other aspects of getting stories into the news at the next PRSA Gold Coast Chapter meeting, July 27. Mark Danielson, General Manager, NPG of California and Jim Lemon, News Director, KEYT, KCOY & KKFX will also discuss what news departments are looking for these days and give tips on how to work with their stations.
The meeting will begin at 8 a.m. with networking, followed by the program presentation from 8:30-9:30 a.m. The event will be held at KEYT, Channel 3 in their outside patio, 730 Miramonte Dr., Santa Barbara. Members are encouraged to car pool.
Mark Danielson has spent his entire professional career in the broadcast business, which today spans more than 30 years – and counting. He started his career working for a small-market broadcasting company, KMVT-TV, the CBS affiliate in the community of Twin Falls, Idaho. Since then, Mark held positions in nearly every part of the broadcast business, from operating the teleprompter to directing live newscasts to advertising sales to eventually overseeing everything as general manager.
Some of his stops include KSL-TV in Salt Lake City, KCRA-TV in Sacramento and KTVB-TV in Boise. Since 2007, he has been a general manager for the News-Press and Gazette Company – first overseeing six television stations in east Idahoand now in Santa Barbara. Today, he is general manager for NPG of California, which includes KEYT-TV the local ABC affiliate, KKFX-TV the local FOX affiliate and MyNetwork, which can be found of cable channel 13. In addition, his company assists in operating KCOY the local CBS station.
Jim Lemon began his television news career as an anchor, reporter and producer for various stations in Arizona, Nevada and Idaho. His first news director post was at KSNT-TV, an NBC affiliate in Topeka, Kansas. From there, he headed to KGMB-TV in Honolulu, KOVR-TV in Sacramento and then to WITI-TV in Milwaukee where he was vice-president and news director. He became news director at KEYT-TV in Santa Barbara in 2013. He now leads a news staff of 45 with two newsrooms and two bureau locations producing over 50 hours of content per week.
The PRSA meeting is open to anyone who is interested in attending, and advance reservations are required. Admission is $20 for PRSA members and students, and $30 for non-members. A light breakfast is served. To register, visit www.prsagoldcoast.org.
For more information contact Nancy Gill, chapter treasurer, at nancy.gill@csuci.edu or 805-437-8456.
PRSA is a nonprofit organization chartered in 1947 and the world’s largest organization of public relations professionals with more than 21,000 public relations and communications professionals across the United States. The California Gold Coast Chapter was founded in 2014 and serves Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. For more information, visit www.prsagoldcoast.org.