“Arizona Week” hosted by former Tucson Citizen newspaper publisher/editor Michael Chihak premieres on Friday, January 14, 2011 at 8:30 p.m. Chihak will be interviewing newsworthy politicians and community leaders on a weekly basis for KUAT Channel 6, Arizona Public Media. Website is www.azpm.org.

From their press release:

With all that has transpired in Tucson over the last week, host Michael Chihak and a panel of Journalists will discuss how the tragedy is having an impact on the Arizona State Legislature. Friday’s program will include an interview with Arizona House Speaker Kirk Adams, who Monday called on his colleagues for a more civil tone.

“Arizona Week is a review of that week’s top news in Arizona: the big topics and stories that need in-depth analysis,” said host Michael Chihak. “We plan to get the newsmakers on the air, interview them and then a panel of journalists from news outlets such as the Arizona Republic, The Arizona Capitol Times, and others will be able to ask the follow-up questions and lead discussions that our citizen viewers need to know. The mission of the program is to provide depth and understanding of the key issues that affect the state.”

Arizona Week will maintain its own unique website AZweek.com featuring Chihak’s Channel blog. Arizona Week will be streamed online and you can stay current anytime with the AZweek twitter feed. It will also repeat on Sunday mornings at 10:30 a.m. together with Washington Week (10:00 a.m.) on PBS World – broadcast channel 27-3, Comcast 203, and Cox 83.

I reported on his hiring on December 11 (click here.) Chihak left the Tucson Citizen newspaper in 2008 and moved to California to work as an executive director of the San Francisco nonprofit Communications Leadership Institute. He stepped down from that post in 2009 and studied culinary arts at the California Culinary Academy (graduated in June), and moved back to Tucson in July, 2010.

The Tucson Citizen newspaper ceased print publication on May 16, 2009 after 139 years of continuous news reporting, and has evolved into this online “news source”, the Tucsoncitizen.com.