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

A man passes a store that closed as part of eff...

Roundtable: San Diego's Staggering COVID-19 Surge

Nov. 20: By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer

New efforts to minimize the spread of COVID-19 in San Diego, Amazon's Jeff Bezos donates millions to help local climate change research, and a major development in Mission Valley gets final approval from the city.

Passengers arrive at Terminal 1 at the San Dieg...

Airlines Turn To Testing To Encourage Travel

Nov. 18: By Brooke Ruth, Mark Sauer

Airlines say this testing is an added layer of protection, in addition to deep cleaning airplanes, wearing masks and staying physically distanced from others. But the CDC says that people who take a test before traveling are still taking a risk.

These undated photos show Tieray Jones and Jahi...

Jahi Turner's Mother Still Wants Answers 18 Years After Her Son Went Missing

Nov. 17: By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn

Eighteen years — a lifetime — after her two-year-old son just disappeared, Jahi Turner's mother was ready to tell her story.

Nora Vargas in this undated campaign photo.

Nora Vargas Discusses Priorities For Southwest San Diego County

Nov. 17: By Brooke Ruth, Mark Sauer

In the District 1 San Diego County Supervisors race, Nora Vargas leads her opponent Sen. Ben Hueso by 30,000 votes.

Two colorful murals, one reading the word

Roundtable: San Diego's Blue Wave

Nov. 6: By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer

San Diego embraces democrats at the city and county level, what the presidential election results tell us about the shifting attitudes of voters, and a roundup of some of the election results in north county.

A worker at the San Diego County Registrar of V...

Roundtable: San Diego Votes

Oct. 30: By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer

What the latest polling tells us about San Diego's top races, the San Diego Union-Tribune explains its election endorsements and voters prepare to give President Trump four more years or end the MAGA movement.

San Diego County board of supervisors candidate...

South County Voters Face Interesting Choices

Oct. 28: By Mark Sauer, Pat Finn

The contest for the District 1 seat on the San Diego County Board of Supervisors will have historic results. A candidate who has ended his campaign for the District 7 City Council race could win. And an incumbent on the Otay Water District board is so controversial he has drawn three challengers.

A post from BlackInPSUD on Instagram in this sc...

Sisters Calling Attention To Racism In Poway Unified Prompts Changes

Oct. 26: By Mark Sauer, Megan Burke

Inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests last spring and summer, teenaged sisters Nene and Ekene Okolo are bringing the issue of systemic racism at Poway Unified School District to light.

Uber and Lyft drivers protest at the San Diego ...

Roundtable: California's Most Expensive Ballot Measure

Oct. 23: By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer

Major money fuels California's Prop 22, how San Diego's Measure E could impact the city's climate plan, and the partisan battle for control of the San Diego County Board of Supervisors.

A voter casts her ballot during early voting at...

Roundtable: Voting Early In San Diego

Oct. 16: By Bennett Lacy, Mark Sauer

The surge in early voting across San Diego county, the Supreme Court sides with President Trump to end the census early, and a look at what happens to asylum seekers who are returned to Central America.

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