UPFRONT PLACES | PERSPECTIVES | HAPPENINGS
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Shining a Light
MEDIA NONPROFIT OC WORLD , A PBS SOCAL AFFILIATE CO-FOUNDED BY LAGUNAN SCOTT HAYS , DELVES INTO IMPORTANT ISSUES IN ORANGE COUNTY .
By SHARON STELLO
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Scott Hays ( left ) and Manuel N . Gómez started OC World , a nonprofit media organization and PBS SoCal affiliate . ith community newspapers shuttering in many cities around Orange County — and across the nation — Laguna Beach resident Scott Hays decided to do something to help fill the gap in local news . Nearly three years ago , he and Manuel N . Gómez , vice chancellor of student affairs emeritus at UC Irvine , co-founded OC World , a nonprofit media organization and a PBS SoCal affiliate , covering in-depth stories about the county and its residents .
The organization ’ s show , which shares the same name as the nonprofit , broadcasts at 5 p . m . Mondays on KLCS-PBS to more than 15 million households from Santa Barbara to San Diego . The segments are also available on OC World ’ s YouTube channel ; these videos have amassed a combined total of more than 100,000 views .
“ ‘ OC World ’ is a weekly , nonprofit , 30-minute public affairs show that produces deep-dive on-camera and in-studio interviews , documentary shorts and on-location stories that reflect the county ’ s diverse cultures and cities ,” Hays explains . “ We cover education and the arts , business and health , politics and people .”
The effort has been well-received , gaining recognition and quite a following . Last year , the team ’ s “ Hope Dies Last ” documentary , about the impact of Alzheimer ’ s disease , won a Golden Mike Award from the Radio & Television News Association of Southern California for the best long-form program . The team also received the Real O . C . Award , presented by the OC Press Club , for a short documentary , “ Coastal Crisis : California ’ s Vanishing Beaches .” This award recognizes the “ story , review , feature , column , photo or broadcast video that best captures something special , surprising , telling or essential about Orange County .”
In addition to Alzheimer ’ s disease and the erosion of SoCal beaches , OC World has explored relationship violence and other serious topics , and has conducted interviews with leaders of agencies like the Orange County Power Authority and CalOptima Health , the largest Medi-Cal health insurer in OC , as well as local creatives like giant-screen filmmaker Greg MacGillivray .
Hays , who serves as OC World ’ s executive producer , formerly produced “ Inside OC ” and “ SoCal Insider ” with Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Rick Reiff . Hays also teaches part-time at several community colleges in the region and has written or co-written
COURTESY OF OC WORLD
OC World co-founder Scott Hays ( right ) during an interview with Will and Cary Singleton , founders of the Singleton Foundation for Financial Literacy and Entrepreneurship , at the Singleton Classics automotive museum in Costa Mesa
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