“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.

Arizona Daily Star reports the hiring of former Tucson Citizen Editor and Publisher Michael Chihak to host KUAT’s weekly new show “Arizona Week”, a roundtable of Arizona journalists. For more info, click below:

http://azstarnet.com/news/local/article_6b446022-9528-59ef-8fbe-76540e2e1c65.html

“Arizona Week” will air on Fridays on KUAT Channel 6, at 8:30 p.m. starting in January, 2011.

I worked with Michael as a 2008 “My Tucson” guest columnist and have a lot of respect for him and his “journalism smarts”. He moved back to Tucson (from California) in July with his wife Hilda Oropeza. Welcome home Michael, and good luck with your show.

Michael Chihak at the Tucson Citizen newspaper

A year ago the 138 year old Tucson Citizen newspaper ceased publication (print edition), but is very much alive online as Tucsoncitizen.com. Where have all the former 65 reporters/staffers gone since then?

One of the Citizen’s investigative reporters Renee Schafer Horton who has a blogsite here at Tucsoncitizen.com (“God Blogging and more”), wrote an article on “Where are they now?” in this week’s Tucson Weekly (page 15, May 13, 2010 issue). You can read it online here.

She writes about what happened to Carli Brosseau (pictured in the Weekly article),
and other reporters/staffers including MJ McVay, Rogelio Olivas, Lorrie Brownstone, Jennifer Boice, Tom Stauffer, Judy Carlock, Steve Rivera (now “Steve Rivera Ventures” here at Tucsoncitizen.com).

Renee has finished up her teacher certification coursework and will be student teaching at Salpointe Catholic High School in the fall.

Dan Buckley is running his own video company, www.danielbuckleyproductions.com, and I just saw him on Monday May 10, video taping Cele’s Peterson’s memorial service at the U of A Poetry Center.

Dylan Smith & Mike Truelsen have launched the Tucsonsentinel.com (“news, info & commentary”), online only. Jennifer Boice is on their board of directors, along with Michael Chihak, former publisher.

I recently heard former Associate Editor Mark Kimble again on the radio, as he works as an aide to CD 8 Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords at her Tucson district office.

Does anyone know what happened to Garry Duffy, the political reporter who acted on the side as wizard Zoggog at the Valley of the Moon? I toured that fantasy land on Saturday and wondered about his whereabouts.

Of course Mark Evans and Ryn Gargulinski have been competently co-editing this online “The Voice of Tucson”, at Tucsoncitizen.com for a year now. And former cartoonist Arnie Bermudez just joined us recently with his own “Bermudez Shorts” blogsite. Sports writers Andy Morales (“High School Sports with Andy Morales”) and Anthony Gimino (“AG’s Wildcat Report”) have been blogging here since July and September, respectively.

I was a “My Tucson” guest columnist (under a Work for Hire contract) for 2008-2009 and continued blogging for the Tucsoncitizen.com after the demise of the print version. I still remember the shock when Gannett, Inc. announced in January, 2009 that the Tucson Citizen newspaper, which had been continuously publishing since 1870, would cease publication. At that time, the concept of “citizen journalists” continuing this news resource online as “The Voice of Tucson” was novel. Two other former “My Tucson” columnists, Elizabeth “BJay” Woolley (“BJay’s Work from Home Experience”) and Don Smith (“Fort Buckley”) are occasionally writing here as well.

Many of these former Citizen staffers had a float (actually a “Press Corpse” coffin) at the All Souls’ Procession parade on November 8, 2009. I’ve linked to Ryn’s slide show of that procession, including photo # 40 of former Citizen staffer Val Canez with an “Our epitaph” tshirt & sign.

R.I.P. Tucson Citizen print newspaper, a year later.

“Gone, but not forgotten.”