KCETs Award-Winning Original News Series SOCAL CONNECTED Launches Its 7 Season

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Emily Merkley

747.201.5298, emerkley@kcet.org

KCETs Award-Winning Original News Series

SOCAL CONNECTED Launches Its 7th Season

Premiere Examines How Wild Animals

Mingle With Urban Populations

http://www.kcet.org/shows/socal_connected/

BURBANK, Calif - January 7, 2016 - KCET, the nations largest independent public television station, announced today a new season of its original flagship program SOCAL CONNECTED, the multiple Emmy and Peabody award-winning news series for Southern Californians. This weekly half-hour local news magazine will debut its seventh season on Jan. 27 at 8 p.m. PT offering viewers substantive, in-depth reporting on vital issues that impact the region including race relations, civil rights, technology, transportation, and environmental issues. The show will also cover the cultural, popular, and even quirky stories that impact living in Southern California.

This seasons SOCAL CONNECTED, made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, Chapman University and the Maddocks-Brown Foundation, kicks off with a special episode exploring Southern Californias fascination and frustration with wildlife, both native and non. The episode will delve into the controversy around coyotes; look at beekeeping in the 21st century; and discover the surprising future of taxidermy.

Val Zavala, SOCAL CONNECTEDs 16-time Emmy award-winning anchor and executive producer, will be joined by contributors including: science journalist Cara Santa Maria; reporters Derrick Shore, Conor Knighton, Dija Dowling, Alex Stapleton; and documentary filmmaker Nic Cha Kim. Linda Burns is senior producer.

Full episode descriptions include:

Coyote Controversy - Coyotes have proven themselves extremely adaptable to urban life. Some communities say they are too adaptable. They want coyotes controlled and even killed to protect their young children and pets. Others believe we can co-exist with coyotes if we know how to adapt to them. Now the National Park Service has launched its first ever coyote tracking project. SOCAL CONNECTED reporter Derrick Shore asks, how can we come to terms with coyotes? He meets residents on both sides of the coyote issue, and follows a National Park Service coyote tracker to find out what science can teach us about this clever and sometimes threatening urban dweller.

21st Century Beekeeping - After more than a century, backyard beekeeping is now legal in the city of Los Angeles. But bees have been under siege from pesticides, pests and pathogens. Is there anything the average person can do to help these remarkable insects? SOCAL CONNECTED reporter Cara Santa Maria meets the brainy inventors of a new computer program that can save a hive from destruction, and provide aspiring backyard beekeepers with a high-tech tool for healthy hives.

Keeping Taxidermy Alive - Behind the dioramas of preserved elephants and mountain lions at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles is Tim Bovard, one of the worlds premier taxidermists. Unfortunately the number of museum-based taxidermists is shrinking fast. Will taxidermy itself go extinct? SOCAL CONNECTED reporter Conor Knighton meets Tim Bovard and discovers a surprising interest in taxidermy nurtured by a woman whose love of animals extends beyond their deaths.

The new season of SOCAL CONNECTED premieres Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016 at 8 p.m. PT, and repeats Friday, Jan. 29, 2016 at 8 p.m. PT, and Sunday, Jan. 31, 2016 at 6:30 p.m. PT.

Since its debut in September 2008, SOCAL CONNECTED has been honored with prestigious journalism awards, including 23 Area Emmy Awards, 22 Golden Mikes, a George Foster Peabody Award, three Regional Edward R. Murrow Award and two Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Award for Excellence in Journalism.

Join the conversation on social media using #SoCalConnected

ABOUT SOCAL CONNECTED

SOCAL CONNECTED, winner of a Peabody two duPont Awards, 23 Emmy Awards, 22 Golden Mikes, 48 LA Press Club Awards, two Gracie Awards, as well as four regional and one national Edward R. Murrow Awards, including Best News Documentary and Los Angeles Magazines Best New Local TV Program of 2009, airs exclusively on KCET. For more information, to view episodes online or to leave comments, please visit http://www.socalconnected.org. SOCAL CONNECTED is made possible through the generous support of The Ahmanson Foundation, Chapman University and the MaddocksBrown Foundation.

ABOUT KCET

On-air, online and in the community, KCET plays a vital role in the cultural and educational enrichment of Southern and Central California. KCET offers a wide range of award-winning local programming as well as the finest public television programs from around the world. Throughout its 50-year history, KCET has won hundreds of major awards for its local and regional news and public affairs programming, its national drama and documentary productions, its quality educational family and childrens programs, its outreach and community services and its website, kcet.org. KCET is a donor-supported community institution. For additional information about KCET productions, web-exclusive content, programming schedules and community events, please visit kcet.org. KCET is a service of the KCETLink Media Group.

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