Show Description

KCTS 9 Connects with Enrique Cerna is a weekly exploration of news, politics and culture in the Pacific Northwest. Award-winning journalist Enrique Cerna is back for our 10th season with a revamped program that tackles new, provocative and emotional topics important to people in the Northwest and British Columbia.

Through powerful storytelling, KCTS 9 Connects brings you the compelling people and critical issues that affect your life. Our mission is to expose new stories you didn't know; to explore issues from new perspectives you haven't seen; and to provide new insight from diverse voices you haven't heard, every Friday night at 7:30.

In the studio and on the scene, through interviews and field reports, commentaries and video essays, KCTS 9 Connects provides a vital link to the people, issues, events and trends that are shaping life in the Pacific Northwest.

KCTS 9 Connects is a KCTS Television production. Funding is provided by the Members of KCTS, PCC Natural Markets and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer.

Biographies

Enrique Cerna, Host

Enrique Cerna is the executive producer of About The Money and host, co-creator and executive producer of the weekly news and current affairs program KCTS 9 Connects.

Enrique Cerna joined KCTS 9 in January, 1995. Since then, he has produced documentaries focusing on juvenile justice issues: Hard Times for Juvenile Justice, Ceasefire: Disarming Our Kids, and Behind The Walls. He was also the executive producer and host of the two-hour KCTS 9 special Uncertain Times: Understanding the Crisis, which examined the war in Afghanistan; Islam; the U-S war on terrorism; the Middle East conflict; America's image abroad; plus the concerns of youth in the wake of September 11th. The broadcast was honored by the Academy for Religious Broadcasting with the Global Theme Award and received a Northwest Emmy nomination.

Cerna has also produced and reported several half hour reports: Seattle to Morocco: Women, Politics and Islam; Reverend Samuel McKinney: 40 Years of Faith, Salmon…On The Brink, Remembering John Stanford. In addition, he has produced and reported stories for several national PBS specials, most recently, The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer which featured his story Electing Women. The report examined the efforts of Moroccan women to increase their political voice in the moderate Islamic nation, an effort that received assistance from a group of Northwest women from the University of Washington's Center for Women and Democracy.

Cerna has worked in the Seattle broadcast market for more than 30 years. He began his broadcast career as a news reporter/anchor for KOMO Radio in 1975. Prior to joining KCTS 9, he worked for KOMO Television as a general assignment news reporter and KING Television as a producer, reporter, and program host.

Cerna has earned five Northwest region Emmy awards. The most recent was awarded in June, 2003 for his report on the Northwest Burn Foundation's summer camp for young burn survivors. In addition, he has been honored by the Pacific Mountain Network's Best of the West competition and the Central Education Network for the documentary Hard Times for Juvenile Justice. In September, 1999, Cerna was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Religious Broadcasting.

Cerna lives in the Ballard area of Seattle. He is the father of two children, Alicia and Antonio.

Ethan Morris, Producer

Ethan Morris is an award-winning journalist with more than fifteen years experience in broadcast and print media. He has won three Emmy Awards and has been nominated for thirteen more. In 2001, he won the prestigious National Edward R. Murrow Award for Best Newscast in the country. Additionally, he has won three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards and been nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for investigative reporting.

In addition to producing KCTS 9 Connects, Morris helped develop and launch KCTS 9’s financial program, About The Money.

Before coming to KCTS 9, Morris was the Senior News Producer at KOMO-TV in Seattle. He was also a special commentator for ABC News on regional news stories and issues, making weekly live appearances on ABC’s World News Now.

Ethan lives in Seattle and enjoys running Green Lake, spending time with friends at the Queen Anne Starbucks, and playing golf and tennis whenever it’s not raining.

Lesley McClurg, Producer

Lesley McClurg is an Emmy Award-winning producer passionate about telling stories that promote environmental awareness and social justice. Lesley has reported on critical and timely topics like Northwest soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury, cruise ship pollution in Seattle’s harbors, and our state’s increasing need for prison reform. Lesley works on all of KCTS 9’s local productions including About The Money, KCTS 9 Connects and Conversations. Although Lesley acts in many roles, her favorite is being in the interview chair. Her most memorable interviewees are Gloria Steinem, Gary Snyder, and Isabelle Allende.

Before coming to KCTS 9, Lesley was the associate producer and project coordinator for Woody Creek Productions in Fremont for several years, where she headed the outreach campaign for the blockbuster hit The Heart of the Game (Miramax 2006). She also worked with writer/director Ward Serrill on several promotional films for Seattle advocacy organizations.

Lesley’s gypsy nature has inspired extensive overseas travel and a passion for studying languages. After work, you can usually find Lesley climbing or cycling unless it is snowing, and then she will be making a mad dash for the mountains.