#MediaMonday – Mark Casey
Mark Casey is vice president and news director for 12 News (KPNX-TV) and 12news.azcentral.com, a position he’s held since 2007.
After graduating from West Virginia University and earning his master’s at the University of North Carolina, his career has taken him from Iowa to Minnesota to Upstate New York, back to North Carolina and eventually to Arizona.
Casey was awarded The Phil Alvidrez Award for Excellence in Journalism earlier this year by the Valley of the Sun Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. The award honors an Arizona journalist who has demonstrated a continuous commitment over time of high standards of ethical professional conduct and a spirited defense of the First Amendment.
So Mark, time to share:
Our most challenging news stories have been, by far, the ongoing push and pull with the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office. We have spent thousands of dollars and a lot of time jousting with MCSO over public documents and other points of access that have been denied by Sheriff Joe Arpaio while knowing full-well that in the end, he would have to open up the process. It has cost Maricopa County taxpayers a bundle. Our staff has been harassed, threatened, and stonewalled at every turn. We have continued to work to hold the Sheriff and his staff accountable. We’re not going to stop anytime soon.
Here are my proudest moments at Channel 12:
- Joe Dana’s early work on mismanagement issues with MCSO involving then-Chief Deputy David Henderschott;
- Kathleen Masacrenas’ work exposing Bishop Thomas O’Brien’s cover-up of priest sex offenders;
- The five years I worked with Lew Ruggiero, who never came to work without a list of great stories and always treated his story subjects with fairness and a high degree of professionalism;
- The way our staff handled the move from being a standalone TV station on Central Avenue to our current status as the “TV platform” within Republic Media;
- The 14 years we’ve stood up for Arizona consumers with our Call 12 for Action Reports;
- The 14 years we’ve reported on education issues in Arizona, not the most popular reports but essential coverage;
- That we are one of the few TV stations in the United States with Native American reporters – Mary Kim Titla, the late Andy Harvey, and now Charly Edsitty;
- That we’ve been able to keep cameras in the courtroom in Arizona by successfully amending Rule 122 setting up a mechanism for requiring a hearing when cameras are denied (thanks David Bodney);
- That the leadership at Gannett, The Arizona Republic and 12 News have supported and funded our many court actions to open documents and courtrooms and hold public officials accountable;
- Having our staff recognized (finally) as the best in Arizona by winning the Rocky Mountain Emmy for Station Excellence in 2012.
You can follow me n Twitter, @MarkCasey12News, and like 12News on Facebook.
