Nevada Public Radio Welcomes New Hosts for KNPR's STATE OF NEVADA

Nevada Public Radio (NVPR) officially announced today the new line up of hosts for KNPR's State of Nevada, the award-winning news talk program airing weekdays at 8:50 a.m. (with a 7 p.m. re-broadcast) on KNPR 88.9 FM. Longtime journalists Joe Schoenmann and Carrie L. Kaufman will share permanent hosting duties, and Dave Becker will continue to fill-in while also focusing on his role at NVPR as program director. Listeners will have heard the transition since Labor Day.

Schoenmann has worked in Las Vegas as a print reporter for 17 years. He began at the Las Vegas Review-Journal prior to moving to the Las Vegas Sun. He's covered the state legislature, city and county government, and significant coverage of Tony Hsieh's efforts to rebuild downtown Las Vegas for the Sun as "Joe Downtown." Schoenmann was hosting KNPR's State of Nevada earlier this year, interviewing Senator Harry Reid following his announcement that he would not run for re-election, when Reid and the station received a surprise call from President Obama.

Kaufman has worked as a print, digital and radio journalist for 25 years. In 2007, she was a top 10 finalist in the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's "Public Radio Talent Quest," which sent her headlong into the medium of radio production. Previously she was one of the original hosts of Les-Bi-Gay Radio in Chicago. She founded and published PerformInk, Chicago's theatre and film newspaper and was the recipient of two Peter Lisagor Awards for Excellence in Journalism - for a feature on actress and drama teacher Uta Hagen, and for her extensive coverage of the Screen Actors' Guild Strike of 2000. Kaufman grew up in Las Vegas and returned in 2014.

KNPR's State of Nevada has aired weekdays on News 88.9 KNPR since October 2003, covering stories and issues relevant to Southern Nevada with conversation, reporting, call-in and profile interviews. The program also follows local lifestyle, culture and the characters making Las Vegas an iconic place to live. The program has been honored nationally by the Public Radio Program Directors Association, the Gabriel Awards, and more than a dozen Las Vegas Electronic Media Awards.

KNPR's State of Nevada is available via audio on demand: knpr.org/programs/knprs-state-nevada. The email address for the program is son@knpr.org, and social media handles on Twitter: @knprnews and Facebook: facebook.com/knprnews.

Nevada Public Radio (NVPR) was established in 1975 as an independent, not-for-profit, public benefit corporation. NVPR signed on the air in 1980 with one station serving the Las Vegas area as Nevada's first National Public Radio (NPR(r)) affiliate station. For more than three decades, NVPR has remained true to its mission to enhance the quality of life and foster civic engagement by informing, educating and inspiring a growing audience through public media - including content on air, in print and online. NVPR's broadcast network includes two FM stations serving the Las Vegas metropolitan area - News 88.9 KNPR and Classical KCNV 89.7. Combined with five associate stations, 10 translator stations and associated HD digital channels, NVPR serves a geographical area of more than 66,000 square miles including parts of California, Utah and Arizona. NVPR is the publisher of the award-winning Desert Companion monthly magazine and the producer of KNPR's State of Nevada. Further information is available at www.knpr.org, www.classical897.org and www.desertcompanion.com.