January 2026 Newsletter
Welcome to our new newsletter! This new format is designed to deliver our news directly into your email rather than asking you to open a PDF document. I hope you enjoy it. Let me know if you have any feedback by emailing [email protected].
Now is the time to secure your tickets to the Media Hall of Fame
We’re less than a month away from our third annual Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame induction ceremony. We’d love you to join us for the luncheon at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort and Spa in Rancho Mirage on Tuesday, February 24 as we celebrate the groundbreaking careers of five individuals who put their stamp on media in the Valley.
Now is the time to buy! The deadline to purchase tickets is Monday, Feb. 16. Click here for details.
We’re also excited to bring Tonya Mosely, co-host of National Public Radio’s “Fresh Air,” to the Valley. Tonya will be delivering the keynote address.
The 2026 Media Hall of Fame honorees are:
· Jimmy Boegle, founding editor and publisher of the Coachella Valley Independent
· Larry Bohannan, veteran golf writer, The Desert Sun
· Lina Robles, co-host of the valley’s top morning radio show, El Show del Greñas
· Ric and Rozene Supple (posthumously), pioneering radio station owners and philanthropists
You can read their profiles on our website here.
Nominees announced for Journalist of the Year and Rising Star awards
The Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation is excited to announce the nominees for its 2026 Journalist of the Year and Rising Star awards, honoring outstanding local journalism that informed, challenged, and served the Coachella Valley community over the past year.
Journalist of the Year nominees are:
· Tom Coulter, The Desert Sun
· Peter Daut, KESQ
· Kevin Fitzgerald, Coachella Valley Independent
· Thalia Hayden, NBC Palm Springs
· Ema Sasic, The Desert Sun
The Journalist of the Year award recognizes a professional journalist who has demonstrated excellence, high ethical standards, and significant community impact through their reporting in 2025.
Rising Star nominees are:
· Luis Avila, KESQ
· Xochilt Diaz, El Informador del Valle
· Shay Lawson, KESQ
· Antonio Marquez, Univision
The Rising Star award honors an early-career journalist—under age 30 or with fewer than five years in the industry—whose work in 2025 showed exceptional promise and a strong commitment to telling the valley’s story.
Each award includes a $500 cash prize. Winners will be announced Feb. 24, 2026, at the 2026 Coachella Valley Media Hall of Fame luncheon, held from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort. Journalist Laurilie Jackson, a 2025 Hall of Fame inductee, will emcee the event.
Our internship fundraising drive starts with the CV Giving Day campaign on Feb. 3
One of our most successful fundraising events of the season is just around the corner. CV Giving Day is March 3 but early giving starts on Feb. 3. Proceeds from this event help us place summer interns in newsrooms across the Valley, a way of giving new journalists the professional experience they need to launch their careers. In the past CVJF supporters contributed enough to help us win additional funds from Giving Day organizers.
We hope you’ll support our internship drive again this year. To do so, please go to Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation | CV Giving Day between Feb. 3 and March 3 and make a donation. To see the interns from previous years, go here. We appreciate your help.
KGAY gets ‘stronger’ with a move to 103.1 FM on the radio dial
Just eight years old, KGAY Radio is one of the most popular radio stations in the Valley. On New Year’s Day, the station moved to a stronger signal on the dial at 103.1 FM.
“KGAY owes its remarkable success to our extraordinarily loyal audience, advertisers and community partners,” owner Brad Fuhr said in announcing the move. “… Our new stronger FM signal will allow us to continue to champion the Coachella Valley’s vibrant LGBTQ+ community with the music, voices and spirit that have made KGAY a local favorite from the very beginning.”
KGAY is known for its dance music format, spanning the decades from the disco of the 1970s to the 2000s. The station streams at KGAYPalmSprings.com. Its sister station, formerly MeTV FM, will take over KGAY’s previous spot on the dial and is newly branded as Sunny 106.5, with an adult contemporary format.
“We saw an opportunity to bring music to Palm Springs and the Coachella Valley that hasn’t been heard on radio dials in some time,” Fuhr said. “The music that played on the radio in the 90s and 2000s is now a quarter century old. So, we’re bringing that music back to listeners who are now in their 40s and 50s. Our area businesses want to reach people who grew up with that music. Sunny 106.5 will be a great way to reach this important demographic.”
Our letters acknowledge your tax-deductible gifts
Donations to CVJF are tax deductible. For donors who were so kind to make contributions in 2025, tax acknowledgement letters have been sent out. If you didn’t receive your letter, please let us know at [email protected].
Once again, we thank you for your support.
Randy Lovely, Board President Coachella Valley Journalism Foundation