KUCR Conference Panelists Aim to Shatter Barriers for a More Inclusive Media
For Immediate Release.
Riverside, CA — KUCR is set to present a panel discussion at the 2021 UCRN Media Conference, hosted by the Claremont Colleges on Saturday April 10, entitled “Turn Off the Stereo-Types: Challenging Exclusion in Media.” The KUCR panel features Dexter Thomas, PhD, a KUCR alumnus (Program Director) and Fulbright Scholar. He shared a Pulitzer Prize for team reporting of the San Bernardino shootings, while at the Los Angeles Times and has been nominated for an Emmy. He is currently a correspondent for the Emmy Award-winning Vice News, where he covers the intersection of politics and culture. He is also the host of the program “Reset” on Vice. KUCR Panelist René Contreras is the founder of Viva! Pomona, DJ at DubLab, and pioneer/curator of the “Sonora” Stage at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival. Panelist Tana Yonas, a KUCR alumnus, was longtime cast-member of the PBS television show “Roadtrip Nation,” and is known as an avid record collector of global rarities. She is also a DJ/writer for the vinyl culture resource “In Sheep’s Clothing.” Rounding out the panel is Max Burgos, a KUCR alumnus and former Student Manager. Max is currently a full Partner and Head of Comedy at Agency for the Performing Arts (APA), one of the largest diversified talent agencies in the entertainment industry, with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Nashville, Atlanta, Toronto and London. Burgos navigates the careers of some of the most influential comedians in the industry, with a roster that includes Ronny Chieng, Eddie Izzard, Tom Papa, Jimmy Carr and Noel Fielding, to name a few. He received an Emmy nomination for “Believe: The Eddie Izzard Story,” and is a member of the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (ATAS) and the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS). This panel is moderated by KUCR’s Eduardo Valencia, a noted broadcaster and musician who has worked with the US State Department representing the United States as a cultural ambassador, sharing the diversity of American music with the peoples of the world. The panel organizers include Elliot Fong, Precious Fasakin, Tina Bold, Monica Taylor, and KUCR Director Louis Vandenberg. The panel is scheduled for 12 noon on Saturday.
