The guest on this edition of KNPR's State of Nevada has actually been the one introducing most guests on this program for the last decade. From his seat behind the microphone, host Joe Schoenmann hasn’t talked about himself much, other than inserting his experiences and reporting into interviews he’s conducted.
So, after 11 years at Nevada Public Radio, and 30-plus years as a journalist, Joe is on the other side of the mic'. Before his departure — from this show and the news business — on Friday, June 20, he talked with managing editor Heidi Kyser about why he's leaving, where he's going and what's next.
"I have been a reporter for a long time," Schoenmann said. "There's a certain point you get [to] in a job when ... your energy sort of tails away. ... I actually have a couple books in mind that I've wanted to write, and I want to do those before the steam runs out, and I'm able to do that."
He said his fondest memories of his career will be of the people he's worked with, both as colleagues and as sources. "That's the reason I really became a journalist," he said. "That's what I wanted to do, see if there's any way you can help people by doing this kind of work."
As far as his time hosting SON goes, Schoenmann said his most memorable experiences include the time, on only his second day hosting, when he was interviewing former U.S. Senator Harry Reid and President Barack Obama called in to wish his former colleague well. "It was astounding," he recalled. "I was just flabbergasted."
Among other celebrities he's talked to over the past decade are the Amazing Johnathan, Carrot Top, Ringo Starr, Barry Manilow, Dan Reynolds and Brandon Flowers.
A decade of hosting and producing also included some difficult stories, of course, including the most difficult for Schoenmann, the Oct. 1, 2017, shooting at the Route 91 Harvest Festival on the Las Vegas Strip. Another that left a mark was about the 2016 flooding that swept through storm drains where many people were living. Schoenmann talked to an unhoused individual named Jazz, who described the harrowing experience that ended in his girlfriend's death.
Schoenmann said he always hoped this type of coverage would lead to solutions, which take time. "It takes a lot, obviously, to change something like that, even to do something about homelessness," he said. "But I do have hope."
Guest: Joe Schoenmann, former host and senior producer, KNPR's State of Nevada
