August 2026 Newsletter
Welcome to our July newsletter! Here’s what happened this month. Don’t miss your chance to grab a season pass to our new Bylines, Broadcasts and the Big Screen movie series before sales end. Plus, MeTV FM returns to the Coachella Valley, NBC Palm Springs moves local news earlier, and meet the talented interns and fellows joining Valley newsrooms through CVJF’s journalism grant program. Let us know if you have any feedback by emailing at [email protected].
Buy your season passes to the ‘Bylines, Broadcasts and the Big Screen’ movie series before time runs out
Time is running out to buy season passes to our “Bylines, Broadcasts and the Big Screen” movie series, which kicks off Sept. 13 at the Palm Springs Cultural Center.
The new monthly series of eight films showcases some of the best movies centered on journalism. Each screening features an audience discussion with knowledgeable guest speakers, including some of the journalists whose investigative work is portrayed in the movies.
Among the journalists scheduled to appear: Carl Bernstein for a screening of “All the President’s Men;” Megan Twohey, winner of a Pulitzer Prize for exposing Harvey Weinstein’s alleged sexual abuses, for a screening of “She Said”; and Lowell Bergman, the “60 minutes” producer portrayed by Al Pacino in "The Insider."
The movie series launches next month with a screening of the all-time classic “Citizen Kane.”
Season passes are on sale here until Sept 1. Tickets for individual movie screenings also may be purchased here.
CVJF is producing the movie series in partnership with the Palm Springs Cultural Center. The Supple Foundation is the presenting sponsor. Additional support is being provided by the Donald and Coeta Barker Foundation, David Cantwell and Vincent Monteleone, Stuart Kent and Mark Pellegrino, Jim and Carol Egan, and David Hood.
Oldies radio station MeTV FM makes a comeback in Coachella Valley
The parent company of the Coachella Valley’s popular KGAY radio station is bringing MeTV FM back to the airwaves.
The oldies station, which returned to the air at 92.1 FM on Aug. 3, is a popular music companion to MeTV, a network of classic television shows such as “The Golden Girls,” “M*A*S*H,” “The Carol Burnett Show,” and “All in the Family.” MeTV FM features popular music tracks from several decades, including the ’60s and ’70s with a touch of the ’50s and ‘80s.
“When we switched formats late last year to move KGAY to a better frequency (103.1 FM, MeTV’s original home), we also launched Sunny 106.5 in our radio family,” said Brad Fuhr, owner and CEO of KGAY PSP. “Sunny 106.5 quickly developed its own loyal audience, but we heard repeatedly from MeTV FM fans that they missed the music, the memories, and the unique companion on the radio that MeTV FM provides. We are thrilled to bring 92.1 MeTV FM back home to the Coachella Valley dial.”
NBC Palm Springs touts an earlier start to its national, local news programs
NBC Palm Springs is promoting a scheduling change that delivers an earlier start to its afternoon newscasts. Starting in September, the network’s flagship “NBC Nightly News with Tom Llamas” will now air twice a day, first at 4 p.m. and again at its current 5:30 p.m. time slot.
Local news programs will air in between, including a new show, “First at Four:Thirty,” with host Nour Milla.
Rival station KESQ has delivered local news programming at 4 p.m. since 2022. “ABC World News Tonight with David Muir” airs nightly at 5:30 p.m.
With funds from CVJF, Valley news organizations hire summer and fall interns and fellows
The Palm Springs Post hired a student journalist from Duke University. KESQ rehired a Rancho Mirage High School graduate, and City News Service hired a Desert Hot Springs resident pursuing a Communications degree at the California State University, San Bernardino-Palm Desert, campus.
In all, seven Valley news organizations will hire interns or fellows this summer and fall with a total of $45,000 in funding from CVJF. Below is a roundup of who’s been hired so far.
Haley Meberg, KESQ
A graduate of the Rancho Mirage High School class of 2023, Haley Meberg is returning to the KESQ newsroom for a second internship. She worked at the station last summer. Haley aspires to a career in broadcasting. She is pursuing a journalism degree at Ithaca College in New York, where she will be a senior in the fall, and contributes to The Ithacan, the student-run newspaper, as a life and culture reporter.
Haley Meberg, KESQ
Noor Nazir, The Palm Springs Post
Noor Nazir, a journalist and a senior at Duke University in North Carolina, joined The Palm Springs Post as a summer intern covering stories across the Coachella Valley. Originally from Pakistan, Noor’s reporting focuses on local government, higher education, and the intersection of policy and community life. She has written for The Duke Chronicle, Duke Today and the 9th Street Journal, where she contributed award-winning reporting on local elections and civic issues. At Duke, Noor is studying International Comparative Studies, with minors in Journalism and Media and Computer Science.
Noor Nazir, The Palm Springs Post
Bethany Vargas, City News Service
City News Service has hired Bethany Vargas of Desert Hot Springs as a reporting intern covering stories in the Coachella Valley this summer. She is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Communications, with a concentration in Media Studies, at the California State University, San Bernardino-Palm Desert, campus. Fluent in English and Spanish, Bethany has a strong interest in exploring homelessness and other societal issues.
Bethany Vargas, City News Service
Liliana Vallejo, Gay Desert Guide
Liliana Vallejo, who earned a bachelor’s degree in Communication Studies from California State University, Long Beach, in 2021, joined Gay Desert Guide as a summer intern. A resident of the eastern Coachella Valley, Liliana graduated from Desert Mirage High School in Thermal in 2017 and previously worked as a social media intern with the city of Indio. Currently, she is pursuing a Digital Design and Production certificate from College of the Desert.
Liliana Vallejo, Gay Desert Guide
Nova Blanco-Rico, Coachella Valley Independent
Nova Blanco-Rico joins the Coachella Valley Independent as a California Local News Fellow, focusing on health coverage in the Coachella Valley. He earned his master's degree in journalism from the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California. Nova previously worked as an associate producer at KTLA 5 and a reporter at The (Riverside) Press-Enterprise, covering local politics and community news. He has also written for the LAist, Los Angeles Magazine, The LA Local and CALÓ News.
Nova Blanco-Rico, Coachella Valley Independent
Freelancers at El Informador del Valle
El Informador used their grant funds to hire freelancers. They are:
Xochilt Diaz: A resident of Palm Springs, Xochilt was hired as a reporter/fellow with the Coachella Valley’s Spanish newspaper, El Informador del Valle, last summer. She continues to do freelance reporting for them. Xochilt is originally from San Salvador, El Salvador, and immigrated to the United States in 2014, residing in Virginia for eight years. In 2022, Xochilt began producing Poderosos Latinos, an independent digital media outlet for the Latino community in the Coachella Valley.
Xochilt Diaz, El Informadore del Valle
Marcos Palma: Marcos is recognizable as the host of Pico de Gallo, the television show he has hosted every Saturday on Telemundo-Palm Springs since 2007. His career in Spanish-language media in the Coachella Valley goes back to 1997 when he launched KUNA Noticias on Telemundo-Palm Springs. He wrote an informational news column for the newspaper Unidos, affiliated with The Press-Enterprise, in Riverside, Calif. And served as a news anchor for TVC Latino, a television network with studios located in San Bernardino, Calif.
Marcos Palma, El Informadore del Valle
Tony Hurtado: Born in Saucillo, Chihuahua, Mexico, Tony moved to Coachella and ultimately settled in Indio in 1970 at age 12. He is a graduate of Indio High School and has worked as a photographer since 1986, capturing birthdays, quinceañeras, baptisms, weddings, and other events. Tony is an original staff member of El Informador del Valle, covering concerts and sporting events throughout the Coachella Valley and Southern California since 1988.
Tony Hurtado, El Informadore del Valle
Save the Date for the Media Hall of Fame!
You’ll want to save the date for the next Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame. The luncheon ceremony will take place on Monday, Jan. 25, 2027, at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa. We’re excited about it! Details to come.
Randy Lovely, Board President Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation