Chak's Editorial: KCRA's Editorial by President and General Manager Ariel Roblin is a Recent Addition?!

I can certainly recall watching editorials as a kid, and it's their voice of the communities they serve. KSBW, a Hearst Television station on the Central Coast covering Monterey, Santa Cruz, and San Benito Counties on California's Central Coast, certainly started their editorials back in 1999. The first editorials were offered by then-president and general manager Joseph W. Heston, who he mentioned from the beginning: "Editorials are not part of the news, but they are part of our commitment to serve the public." The editorials on KSBW were offered after Friday's 6pm and weekend newscasts, except for special events like "Share Your Holiday," a KSBW tradition for more than 30 years held each December. When Heston announced his retirement in an editorial, he mentioned this quote at the time:

"William Randolph Hearst founded our news and information company way back in 1887. One thing you quickly learn about working for Hearst: you don’t get to be a successful 133-year-old company without managing and embracing change."

But for KCRA? Like KSBW, KCRA is a Sacramento station is also owned by Hearst Television. However, I personally have never seen an editorial covering issues affecting the Sacramento or the San Joaquin Valleys of both Stockton and Modesto until the recent into on KCRA's editorial that started around August 29, 2021 with current president and general manager Ariel Roblin. That's more than 20 years since being owned by Hearst back in 1999, the same year that KSBW started their editorials. This makes me ask: What took KCRA so long to broadcast their editorials until now? I've been watching both KCRA and KSBW's newscasts on demand many times on the go, but I did notice a striking difference. By the time KSBW ended their editorials with Heston's retirement, KSBW has already recorded 1086 episodes of short editorials while KCRA has still never offered editorials at that time. 

I hope that Ariel Roblin will address to viewers why it took more than 20 years after Hearst took over ownership of KCRA to offer editorials, as well as learning from KSBW's past editorials. I also hope that KSBW will have editorials from their current president and general manager, Laura Willamson, sometime in the future. 

Until then, thank you for letting me and the general public watch editorials. I do look forward to them wherever I watch them, from the comfort of the TV to smartphones and tablets. 

Kyle Chak

E-mail: chak595301@gmail.com 

On Social Media: @KyleSChak