Press release from Arizona Public Media, www.azpm.org (KUAT Channel 6):

Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable
Premieres with New Host Jim Nintzel
New format on PBS-HD Channel 6
Friday evenings at 6:30 p.m. starting September 16th

Tucson, Ariz. – September 9, 2011 – Jim Nintzel, senior writer for the Tucson Weekly and a longtime contributor to Arizona Public Media, will host a new political roundtable on the Friday evening edition of Arizona Illustrated premiering Friday, September 16th at 6:30 p.m. The program will feature a mix of political strategists and reporters who will bring insider perspective to the events of each week.

Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable will be part of PBS-HD Channel 6’s Friday night news block airing at 6:30 p.m. before PBS NewsHour, Washington Week, Arizona Week and Need to Know. The program repeats at 12:30 a.m. on Saturday morning in addition to video-on-demand at www.azpm.org.

“I’ve missed doing the Friday Roundtable and am thrilled to be part of the team that’s bringing a new version to Arizona Illustrated,” Nintzel said. “As the host, I hope to bring fresh insights and perspectives from both the left and the right to our viewers. It’s great to be back in the AZPM studios providing in-depth political news for the community.”

Jack Gibson, Director and General Manager of AZPM states “This new restructuring of the Friday Roundable supports Arizona Public Media’s strategic focus on news and current affairs. Jim, with his respected standing in the community and long experience in the political arena, is a welcome addition to our broadcast team.”

New Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable format:
• The format for Arizona Illustrated Political Roundtable will include Nintzel, political strategists and insiders from both the left and the right sides of the political aisle, reporters from Arizona Public Media and other special guests who will provide analysis of the week’s events in local, state and national politics, as well as forecasts of future political trends.

The premiere program on September 16th will include the following guests:
Jonathan Paton, former Arizona state lawmaker and congressional candidate,
Rodd McLeod, Political Strategist (Congressional campaigns of Congresswoman
Gabrielle Giffords and the 2010 gubernatorial campaign of Terry Goddard),
Andrea Kelly, political reporter, Arizona Public Media.

About Jim Nintzel:
Having covered politics in Southern Arizona for two decades at the Tucson Weekly, Jim Nintzel has won more than 30 statewide and national journalism awards for reporting, commentary and feature writing and was named a Journalist of the Year by the Arizona Newspaper Association in 2010. He was part of PBS-HD Channel 6’s Friday Roundtable for 15 years and has aided Arizona Public Media with political debates and other segments. He is an adjunct faculty member who has taught government reporting at the University of Arizona School of Journalism since 2001.

“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.