About me:

Health Dialogues is made possible in part by a grant from The California Endowment, the state’s largest health foundation. The California Report, heard weekdays on over 20 public radio stations across California, provides daily coverage of issues, trends and public policy decisions affecting California and its diverse population.

Health Dialogues is a special production of The California Report and KQED Public Radio which helps facilitate discussion on healthcare issues that effect the underserved (children, minorities, low income and people with disabilities) populations in Northern California

Northstate Public Radio’s
Health Dialogues Producers

Geoffrey Barley, M.S., has a Master’s in Multimedia Production and Design. He has been working with and Producing for Northstate Public Radio since 2005. Experience includes developing accessible media for persons with disabilities, such as screenreaders, refreshable Braille and various other software and hardware devices, consulting as an assistive technology specialist, producing media for television, radio, the Internet, script writing, and graphics design.

Lorraine Dechter, B.A., News Director and Morning Edition host for Northstate Public Radio. She has produced in Northern California for 27 years (primarily for KCHO-FM, KFPR-FM and KIXE-TV). She was the founder of the KFPR station in Redding. She is a UCS/Annenberg Health Journalism Fellow, with experience in print (includes the Sacramento Bee and the Chico News & Review), radio, television, and multimedia. Lorraine loves to teach media production, and especially to teens -- perhaps because she started producing radio programs when she was 14 years old (working with the first cable radio station in the country). She loves working on Health Dialogues stories and projects with young people in the Northstate, to teach them the skills that have helped in her success. Lorraine also produces the Good-Olde-Fashioned Folk Music Show (Sunday's at 1pm). She says music is good for her health and well-being!

Kaden Freeman, a senior at Shasta High School in Redding. He has been working with KFPR and KCHO for over two years on coverage of health issues. He was trained by the Native Youth Exchange Shasta Multimedia Team. They have sent him across the country several times for training, interviews, and life-changing experiences -- to places like 4 Corners, Hawaii and New York. Kaden hopes to get more young people to listen to public radio, and he finds this a great opportunity to become more involved in the community. He also runs cross country and track.

Minnie Sagar, M.P.H., is passionate about public radio. She has a Master’s Degree in Public Health and has been producing health pieces for KCHO/KFPR for the past three years. She successfully completed a health journalism fellowship with the University of Southern California, Annenberg School of Communications. When she’s not producing radio she’s out in the community promoting healthy, sustainable living, riding horses and hiking.

Mark Speer, after many years in the movie and television industry as an editor, Mark Speer has returned to radio through KCHO-FM and KFPR-FM. He started in high school as a teenage radio trailblazer, at the first cable radio station in the country (CPVR-FM). His media work has earned him the distinction of both a gold record and an Emmy . His team at the editing company Ediflex received an Oscar for technical support for the film industry.

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