JOIN THE SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC RELATIONS ROUND TABLE FOR THIS FREE ONLINE EVENT
PR Round Table Virtual Scholarship Lunch with “KQED Newroom” host Priya Clemens will focus on what it’s like to work in news during COVID-19.
New KQED Newsroom Host Priya Clemens generously said “yes” when asked to join PR Round Table at our annual Scholarship Luncheon event. But that was before the onslaught of the COVID-19 health crisis that has the world reeling. So guess what? We’re going virtual!
Please join us online on Tuesday, May 12, for the same excellent conversation at this year’s scholarship event, minus the catered lunch. Our virtual program will honor the 2020 Philip N. McCombs scholarship recipients — local graduate and undergrad college students studying public relations and allied fields. Winners are chosen by the PR Round Table Scholarship Committee, which conducts interviews of finalists following reviews of their applications, recommendations and writing samples.
WHEN: Tuesday, May 12, 2020, 12 noon to 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: Join us on Zoom!
The Virtual Scholarship Lunch is being offered for free to Round Table members and guests. Please register for the special event at the link on this page. You will be given a link to the meeting when you register. You are welcome to make a donation to our Scholarship Program in any amount when you sign up for our virtual lunch!
ABOUT OUR SPEAKER
Clemens brings to her keynoter role a rich and broad background in broadcast journalism, plus several years’ experience as spokesperson at the Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District. She will share her compelling career story and why she’s returning to the news desk at this stage of her career. She will also discuss her newly acquired knowledge of what it’s like to work in the media through the ongoing COVID-19 health crisis, and her views on the state of serious journalism in the Bay Area and more broadly.
As a nationally recognized broadcast journalist and Bay Area resident, Clemens brings a strong mix of talent and experience to her new job as host of “KQED Newsroom.” Her appointment was announced this past January, and she made her debut on February 28. Clemens has more than 15 years of television news experience working for a variety of national and local outlets, including CBS News, NBC News and KTVU.
She has worked on both sides of the news industry, most recently as the spokesperson for the Golden Gate Bridge District, where she managed public affairs for both the Golden Gate Bridge and Golden Gate Transit and Ferries, acting as spokesperson, building relationships with the media, managing external communications, participating in strategic partnerships, engaging stakeholders, and providing employee communications, including overseeing onsite filming and serving on the social media team.
As noted in the KQED announcement, Clemens’ extensive broadcast journalism background had her crisscrossing the nation to cover some of the most important stories of the early part of the millennium. As a national correspondent for CBS News (2008-2012), she reported for the “CBS Evening News” and “The Early Show,” anchored the “CBS Weekend Early Show” news desk and filled in as host of the Saturday and Sunday “CBS Evening News.” At CBS, she covered pivotal moments such as the financial meltdown of 2008, and interviewed such notable figures as Donald Trump, Warren Buffett and Kobe Bryant.
She worked as a general assignment reporter for Bay Area Fox affiliate KTVU, covering breaking news including a major San Francisco Bay oil spill and the murder trial of journalist Chauncey Bailey. Clemens has also been a journalist at KOIN in Portland, Oregon; WVTM in Birmingham, Alabama; KKFX in Santa Barbara, California; and the Orange County News Channel.
Clemens was born in Chennai, India, and grew up in Virginia, California, Brussels and London. She earned her bachelor’s degree in anthropology from Westmont College and her master’s degree in broadcast journalism from the University of Southern California, where she graduated with honors.