In summary
A nonprofit news partnership brings CalMatters’ statewide perspective to Voice of San Diego’s annual Politifest event.
CalMatters partnered for the first time with Voice of San Diego, one of the nation’s oldest and most successful nonprofit newsrooms, for VOSD’s 12th annual Politifest summit this weekend.
The weekend started with a Friday evening panel about sea level rise in a very appropriate venue: An Imperial Beach brewpub perched on the edge of San Diego Bay. Then the main event on Saturday drew hundreds of people to the University of San Diego campus to explore the social, political and economic implications of the region’s housing and water challenges.
“Voice of San Diego provides vital journalism to California’s second largest county,” said CalMatters CEO Neil Chase, “and it’s an honor to collaborate with them on an event that brings so many people together for these important conversations.”
Along with the mix of debates, panels and interviews Politifest attendees have come to expect, the CalMatters team added a session on housing moderated by reporter Jeanne Kuang, a water panel led by commentary editor Yousef Baig, an “Understanding Sacramento” session with reporter Sameea Kamal and a conversation about fire insurance led by Chase.
The closing session featured a recording of VOSD’s weekly podcast with Attorney General Rob Bonta being interviewed by Los Angeles Times housing reporter Liam Dillon. Recordings of the sessions will be available in the coming week on the Voice of San Diego site.
The CalMatters events team is working with partners statewide, including events earlier this year with the Cal Poly Humboldt journalism department and Fresnoland. The next collaborative event is the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo Festival of Journalism on Oct. 26 and 27.