EmmySF Article on Bay Sunday

I can't help but feel extremely grateful that EmmySF published my article on Bay Sunday, a CBS 5 San Francisco Talk Show I used to be a production assistant for! I don't think I've ever had anything published, let alone for the Emmys, so this was definitely one of my most proudest moments. Low and behold, my article in full:

Discover The Bay Area’s Most Assorted Community Affairs Program, Bay Sunday
By Ishmael Dizon

CBS 5’s Bay Sunday is a local community affairs show with an eclectic mix of news, arts, and community information all tossed up in lively conversation. Bay Sunday first began in the summer of 1989 with retired CBS 5 Anchor, Barbara Rodgers, the show’s original host and Deanne Hamilton, the show’s first producer. After Hamilton's departure in the early 1990’s, Lena Sullivan became the show’s permanent producer. In 1996, Rodgers took a brief hiatus and came back to host the show in 2000 until she retired in 2008. Rodgers, who in her 36 years of hosting has interviewed more than 8,000 individuals and has done more than 2,400 interviews for Bay Sunday while she hosted the show for a total of 15 years.

Although she’s interviewed thousands of prominent people throughout her career, Rodgers admitted that some of her favorite guests on the show included Blair Underwood, Eartha Kitt, Delroy Lindo, and Stanley Turrentine. Her most proudest moments as she recalls were the live production shows she did at the Oakland Coliseum when Nelson Mandela arrived as part of his visit to the United States after his release from prison in 1990 and when she had done an on location show with director, Spike Lee for his film “Malcom X.” When asked about how she felt about her hosting duties on the show, Rodgers explained “hosting Bay Sunday for so many years and helping to create the show and give it life was one of the most rewarding experiences of my 29 and-a-half-year career at CBS 5.”

After Rodger’s reverential departure, hosts for the show have included permanent hosts Sue Kwon and Tracy Humphrey, and Roberta Gonzales, Claudia Lombana, Juliette Goodrich, Simon Perez, Monique Soltani, and Joe Vazquez as fill in hosts. Bay Sunday has also profiled CBS 5’s very own Dana King, Wendy Tokuda, Juliette Goodrich, and Allen Martin as guests for the show.

The local community affairs show is now hosted by award winning and CBS 5 News Anchor, Sydnie Kohara and since Sullivan’s departure in 2009, the San Francisco Bay Area Market Communications Director for CBS 5, Akilah Bolden-Monifa has continued to produce the highly diverse show. As the current host for Bay Sunday, Kohara is nationally recognized for her work as a journalist, where she has covered stories such as the San Francisco earthquake in 1989, which she provided live global coverage for Europe, Japan, and Australia. Kohara is also no stranger to the Bay Area community as California Governor George Deukmejian, serving as the Chief of Communications for the California Department of Alcohol and Drug Programs, appointed her political appointee. She also served as a Quarterly Chair for the Commonwealth Club of California, which is one of the nation’s oldest and largest public affairs forum to date.

Bay Sunday Host, Sydnie Kohara with local musician, Chris Grady.
As current producer of Bay Sunday, Bolden-Monifa admits that she knew nothing about producing until she coproduced the show with Sullivan for six weeks before her departure. “I learned everything from Lena, Stephanie John, and other news producers, sitting in, reading, watching Bay Sunday, and other shows, and thinking,” said Bolden-Monifa. So far, the now part time producer enjoys producing content and exposing people of the Bay Area to things they may not know about whether it’s local restaurants, books, plays, politicians, or non-profit organizations that are doing outstanding work in their communities.

After originally being a one-hour production with six to eight segments, Bay Sunday now consists of four segments and looks into profiling local non-profits, organizations, musicians, authors, directors, and more. In the past, the show has profiled some of the most prevalent actors in Hollywood including Naomi Judd, Benjamin Bratt, and Danny Glover, while having interviewed renowned comedians such as Charlie Murphy, Marga Gomez, and Will Durst. Major performers like Janet Jackson, Brooke White, and Goapele have also appeared on the show. Villy Wang’s BAYCATS and Susan Mernit’s Oakland Local are only two of many local non-profit organizations the show also profiled.

Bay Sunday has also sat down with many representatives from an assorted group of film festivals including the Jewish Film Festival, LGBT Film Festival, San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival, Latino Film Festival and many more.

Bay Sunday is a weekly program taped at the San Francisco station every Friday at 9:45 AM and is aired the following Sunday at 5:30 AM.

To engage viewers and keep up with the evolution of the World Wide Web, viewers can now follow Bay Sunday’s twitter at www.twitter.com/cbs5sbaysunday and Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/BaySunday for all the back stage extras and exclusives. Some segments can be watched on the show’s YouTube page at www.youtube.com/baysunday, where viewers can also check out the latest tech and gadget extras.

Viewers and community members can pitch story ideas to amonifa@cbs.com. Copies of a full episode are available for purchase for $25 or $20 for an individual segment. For order inquiries, please contact amonifa@cbs.com.

For pictures, click here.