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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
San Diego Author Matthew Quirk Discusses New Political Thriller
- Feb. 4
- By Mark Sauer, Megan Burke
Quirk is a San Diego-based New York Times-bestselling author. Before becoming a novelist, he spent five years reporting for The Atlantic about crime, terrorism and international gangs.
Roundtable: Downtown Homeless Arrests
- Feb. 1
- By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer
A spike in arrests may have stymied a recent homeless count, it's been 40 years since San Diego's first school shooting, and how police are using drones in Chula Vista.
Roundtable: Ecological Crisis At Border
- Jan. 25
- By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn
With every rainstorm, more sewage and plastic trash flows into the U.S. from Mexico fouling beaches and wetlands. A church wants to build a high-rise in Banker's Hill. Neighbors say it's too high. And the NRC is looking into whether Edison can continue to move around nuclear waste at San Onofre.
Sunrise Movement Youth Organizing To Stop U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions
- Jan. 22
- By Mark Sauer, Megan Burke
Thanks in part to the efforts of the Sunrise Movement, young voters surged to the polls for the midterm elections. They backed Democrats by more than a 2-to-1 margin and helped flip the U.S. House of Representatives.
Roundtable: Wall Furor Affects Workers, Businesses And San Diego Politicians
- Jan. 11
- By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn
President Donald Trump remains firm on having $5.7 billion for a border wall. Democrats remain firmly against it. The government remains shut down. As federal workers, businesses and academics who rely on the U.S. government worry, state and local politicians are wading into the quagmire.
Roundtable: Government Shutdown Aggravates Border Chaos
- Jan. 4
- By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn
It's been quite a week. Tear gas and rubber bullets at the border. Nuclear power advocates concerned about waste removal at San Onofre. The cyber attack on the Union-Tribune and other papers. Mentally ill criminal defendants diverted into treatment.
Roundtable: A Look Back At The Top Stories Of 2018
- Dec. 28, 2018
- By Mark Sauer, Natalie Walsh
As the year comes to a close, we recap the biggest stories of year, from the midterm elections to climate change to migrants at the border.
Matt Taibbi On How The News Breeds Hate
- Dec. 27, 2018
- By Mark Sauer
Rolling Stone contributing editor and writer Matt Taibbi argues in his new book that it's really the news media that's got us at each other's throats.
Notable 2018 Books From San Diego Authors
- Dec. 27, 2018
- By Mark Sauer
The region's rich literary tradition continued in 2018 with several notable books out from local authors.
Big Stories In San Diego Tourism In 2018
- Dec. 26, 2018
- By Mark Sauer
It’s hardly news that tourism is big business in San Diego. In 2017, San Diego County hosted a record 35 million visitors, who spent more than $10.8 billion while in town.