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Mark Sauer
Host, The Roundtable
A newspaperman for more than 30 years, Mark Sauer joined KPBS in October 2010 and currently serves as the host of the KPBS Roundtable, airing each Friday on radio and TV.
He spent 27 years as a reporter and editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune after stints at The Houston Post and at two papers in his native Michigan.
A features/human-interest writer in the UT's Currents section for many years, Mark also spent about a third of his UT career as an editor and reporter on the Metro Desk. He has covered a wide range of events: Wild fires in Southern California and Hurricane Katrina on the Gulf Coast; Super Bowls and the World Series; foster care and child-abuse issues; the Roman Catholic Diocese's sexual-abuse scandal and bankruptcy; royal visits of Queen Elizabeth, Prince Charles and Princess Diana; Republican and Democratic national conventions; high-profile criminal trials; and many other stories, from the silly to the sublime. Along the way, he interviewed everyone from presidents to pan-handlers.
His work exposing the false accusations and prosecutions of several San Diegans for murder, rape and child abuse garnered Pulitzer Prize nominations and many regional and local journalism awards, including Best in the West, the Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism and several San Diego and California bar-association awards.
Mark has a degree in journalism from Michigan State University.
Recent Stories by Mark Sauer
Roundtable: Still Waiting For Answers In Earl McNeil Death
- Aug. 17
- By Mark Sauer, Neiko Will
National City police say their investigation is done, but the family of Earl McNeil is still waiting for answers. The federal government argues that cross-border sewage pollution is a local problem. And the nation's newspapers clap back at President Trump and his anti-press comments.
Authors Reveal Story Behind The Notorious McMartin Case
- Aug. 13
- By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn
Thirty-five years ago this week, a woman in Manhattan Beach, California reported a case of suspected child abuse at the McMartin Preschool setting off a frenzied swirl of allegations that became the longest and most expensive criminal case in U.S. history. A new book reveals the missteps and hysteria surrounding the trial.
Roundtable: Convention Center Plan Sidetracked
- Aug. 10
- By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer
San Diego's convention center expansion plan is put in doubt, a new deportation risk for international college students, and the politics of California's wildfires.
Roundtable: The Consequences Of Climate Change
- Aug. 3
- By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer
California Governor Jerry Brown says recent wildfires are an effect of climate change, presidential politics enters the race for the 50th congressional district, and the Padres struggle to build a winning team.
Roundtable: Reunification Deadline Passes
- July 27
- By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer
The federal government tries to meet a deadline to reunite separated immigrant families, San Diego County leaders weigh whether to bypass its general plan to approve new housing construction, and California's birth rate reaches a record low.
Roundtable: Outrage In National City
- July 20
- By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer
National City faces protests over the death of a man injured in police custody, San Diego approves a plan to regulate short-term home rentals and undisclosed meetings by state energy regulators are made public.
Gripping Story Of 'The Indianapolis' Told By Local Authors
- July 11
- By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn
The saga of the USS Indianapolis is wild enough to stoke the imagination of any World War II buff. So how did Sara Vladic, a young college student at Pepperdine, become interested enough to spend more than a decade telling the story?
Roundtable: Outrage Over Border Immigration Policy
- July 6
- By Mark Sauer, Neiko Will
North of the border, the government asks for more time to address family separations as outrage continues over zero-tolerance. While down south, Mexico elects a new president. He's described as populist and anti-establishment, but does he have anything in common with his U.S. counterpart?
Roundtable: Reassembling Fractured Immigrant Families
- June 29
- By Mark Sauer, Neiko Will
The clock is ticking on reuniting immigrant families separated at the border. What now, after Supreme Court Justice Kennedy announces his retirement? And a legal challenge to the Mission Valley stadium site ballot measures. We discuss it all, on KPBS Roundtable.
Roundtable: President Pivots On Immigration, Zero-Tolerance Policy Remains
- June 22
- By Mark Sauer, Neiko Will
The national debate about what to do about immigrants fleeing violence and poverty in their home countries comes to a head this week, while the dream of retirement fades for many Californians. We discuss both on this week's Roundtable.