KQED Public Radio 88.5 FM announced today that Brian Watt will host the station’s local news during its flagship program Morning Edition. His first day on air will be April 11, 2016.
Brian has been a reporter with Southern California Public Radio (SCPR), in Los Angeles, for nine years. Most recently he covered the working and entrepreneurship beat. Before joining SCPR, he worked as a producer for the Marketplace Morning Report. Brian’s work has won several awards from the Los Angeles Press Club, the Radio Television News Association of Southern California and Public Radio News Directors Incorporated.
“Brian’s passion for public service, great voice and depth of experience are exactly what we were looking for in a news anchor,” said Holly Kernan, KQED executive editor for news. “He’ll be a terrific addition to a very talented team, and we look forward to having Brian guide us through the local news landscape each morning.”
"KQED is a gold standard in local public broadcasting, so I'm honored, thrilled and humbled to get this opportunity,” said Watt. "This is the work that I've always wanted to do, in a place where I've always wanted to live. I'm very proud of my accomplishments as a reporter, but my ultimate goal in public radio has always been to host or anchor, to tell listeners things they need to know and bring them stories that they want to hear.”
Prior to dedicating himself full-time to journalism, Brian gained deep experience in the arts and politics. In 1998, he earned a masters in theater from the Sorbonne Theater Studies Institute in Paris. As an actor, he appeared on TV shows including The West Wing and The District and performed in France, Italy, Poland and Brazil, and even filmed a movie in Budapest, Hungary. After graduating from Yale in 1990, Brian served as a personal assistant to U.S. Senator Harris Wofford before becoming campaign manager for his father Mel Watt’s successful congressional campaign.