Meet the Team

Leon Messenie

Director of Engineering

Leon Messenie is a former KPBS staff member.

Leon Messenie has worked in the engineering department at KPBS for 32 years and currently serves as the Director of Engineering. Leon has also worked as a freelance engineer for several media networks, specializing in sports audio engineering. Leon Messenie started his career in the commercial broadcasting industry at KREX Grand Junction, Colorado. He then moved on to KTNV and KVBC in Las Vegas, Nevada before moving to San Diego and joining KPBS. Leon is a past member of the PBS Enterprise Technology Advisory Committee where he served as Chairman for four years.

RECENT STORIES ON KPBS

AMERICAN MASTERS: Marcella

Jennifer Robinson

Premieres Monday, July 14, 2025 at 10 p.m. on KPBS TV / PBS app. Discover how celebrated writer Marcella Hazan shaped Italian cuisine in America. After immigrating to New York in the 1950s, she began making authentic dishes from her Italian roots and inspired millions of Americans with her cookbooks.
Science & Technology

San Diego scientists try to unlock the secrets of cannabis

Thomas Fudge

Genetic researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have sequenced many cannabis genomes to better understand what the plant could promise for human health and well being.
International

European trade ministers meet to forge strategy after Trump's surprise 30% tariffs

The Associated Press

The EU is America's biggest business partner and the world's largest trading bloc. The U.S. decision will have repercussions for governments, companies and consumers on both sides of the Atlantic.
National

Shackled for weeks: Federal report finds abuse of restraints in prisons

Joseph Shapiro

The Justice Department's Office of the Inspector General found widespread abuse of shackles in federal prisons. One prisoner was held in restraints so tight that he had to have a limb amputated.
Economy

Trump's Brazil tariffs are 'grotesquely illegal,' says Nobel Prize-winning economist

Steve Inskeep

Nobel Prize-winning economist Paul Krugman believes tariffs President Trump has threatened to impose on countries, including Mexico and Brazil, are here to stay and will cost U.S. consumers.
Environment

Flood risk is widespread in the U.S. Few people have insurance for it

Michael Copley

Climate change is increasing the risk of dangerous floods. But people often balk at the cost of flood insurance, especially since many doubt they need protection.