I still remember our first "newsroom" at Burton High School like it was yesterday. It was 2005, and in the back of the school, a small group of volunteer journalists packed Studio C. We squeezed around desks and sat on the floor with a shared energy and a desire to tell public interest stories from the Bay Area. What came next transformed KALW into the local, independent journalism station we are today.
KALW News was launched by journalist Holly Kernan with KALW’s current Executive Producer, Ben Trefny, under the leadership and support of then-General Manager, the late Nicole Sawaya.
We were scrappy, and we learned by doing: chasing stories, writing, recording interviews, diving into the audio editing software ProTools—learning how to make good radio with our limited resources. What brought us together was a love for audio storytelling and a desire to explore the Bay Area through the voices and experiences of its people.
The region was rapidly changing and our team was reporting award-winning stories on issues like housing, gentrification, immigration, education; interwoven with history pieces and pieces that immersed listeners in the vibrant arts and culture scene. We were hungry to explore ALL the stories happening around us.
Crosscurrents was born in 2008, expanding a weekly half-hour program into a weekday half-hour news magazine.
For me, Crosscurrents became much more than a show. It became a window into the Bay Area where communities are centered and empowered to tell their own stories through our microphones. Our philosophy was (and still is) to give people agency and ownership of their stories—we would not be the detached “parachute journalists."
Over the next 15 years, the KALW News Crew grew, as our space did. We welcomed new reporters, producers, editors, and engineers who helped us dig deeper, launch audio projects and podcasts.
But perhaps one of the most important parts of that growth has been the people we've trained. Holly Kernan’s original mission was to train more journalists from underrepresented communities. So with a grant from the Association for Continuing Education, we launched the KALW Audio Academy in 2013, giving aspiring journalists the chance to learn audio storytelling in a public radio newsroom. The Academy graduated journalists who went on to places like the Washington Post, WNYC, and national shows like Snap Judgment. It grew alongside other training opportunities, including the Summer Journalism Program, the prison training program that produces the award-winning podcast Uncuffed, and the Teen Podcasting Institute that produces the award-winning podcast tbh where teens have their say.
Watching students and fellows walk through KALW's doors and discover that they have a story worth telling—and a voice worth hearing—has been such a joy to witness over the years.
And when they graduate, they are still part of our world. Former reporters, producers, editors and fellows keep finding their way back in freelance stories, special projects, community events, and other connections with KALW.Whenever I run into former KALW people at journalism conferences around the country, there is a familiar refrain: “KALW was the best place I ever worked.” Or in our KALW staff lingo, The MOST BEST.
That’s why I have been here since those crowded days in Studio C in 2005. Now, as we celebrate 85 years, we have made our biggest move yet—into The People’s Studio at the Warfield Commons, our new collaborative home where our work will grow deeper and be more impactful. Yes, we’ve come a long way from that crowded studio C newsroom back in 2005, but the mission hasn’t changed. We will still do what we’ve always done: Build community, tell important stories, and grow generations of journalists who care about the Bay Area and its people.
After 85 years, everything we do at KALW continues to be made possible by the support of our listeners. So tune in, become a KALW Member or renew your membership, and thank you for being a part of our journey to becoming the Most Best Newsroom.
