Induction Luncheon: Saturday, October 18, 2025,
Basque Cultural Center, South San Francisco
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The San Francisco/Northern California Chapter of The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences is excited to introduce The Gold & Silver Circle Class of 2025.The Gold &Silver Circle is an honor society of individuals who have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 50 years or more for the Gold Circle, or 25 years or more for the Silver Circle. Members must have made a significant contribution to their local television markets and distinguished themselves within the industry and the community. Silver Circle inductees are elected by current members of the Silver Circle, and the Gold Circle by the Chapter Board of Governors.
Nine new members will be joining the Silver Circle: Scott Arthur, Photographer, ABC7 San Francisco; Larry Beil, Anchor/Sports Reporter, ABC7, San Francisco; Randy Forsman, Director, KCRA 3, Sacramento; Josie Hernandez, Reporter, NBC Bay Area, San Jose; Justin Kanno, News Photographer, KHON 2, Hawaii; Kurtis Ming, Anchor, KCRA 3/former CBS 13, Sacramento; Terri Russell, Lead Reporter, KOLO 8, Reno; Tracey Watkowski Silva, Vice President News, ABC7, San Francisco; and Dale Yurong, Anchor, ABC30, Fresno. This will bring the Silver Circle that started in 1986 to 313 members.
Two members of the Silver Circle will now be joining the Gold Circle: Steve Swatt, former Reporter/Political Analyst, KCRA 3, Sacramento (Silver Circle Class of 2016); and Pamela Young, Host/Producer, KHON 2, Hawaii (Silver Circle Class of 2004). The Gold Circle started in 2002 and will now have 32 members.
David Louie, Retired Reporter, ABC7 San Francisco (Silver Circle Class of 1995 and Gold Circle Class of 2019), will serve as our Master of Ceremonies.
The induction ceremony will take place at a luncheon held at the Basque Cultural Center in South San Francisco on Saturday, October 18, 2025. Reception at 11 a.m., lunch at noon and the ceremony at 1 p.m. The NATAS collegiate scholarships for 2025 will also be awarded at the luncheon.
Photos and bios of each inductee follow:
SILVER CIRCLE CLASS OF 2025
SCOTT ARTHUR, Photographer, ABC7 KGO-TV, San Francisco
Longtime Bay Area Photographer Scott Arthur, who works for station KGO ABC7, is being honored for dedication to his craft and community. He primarily operates out of the South Bay Bureau in San Jose and has since 1996. Previously, he was a photographer for several years at KNTV in San Jose. His colleagues can attest to his formidable talent, creativity, dedication, and collaborative spirit under daily deadline pressure. After 43-years in the business, Arthur reportedly is the field photographer every reporter wants to work with and the one – other field crews respect.
A familiar face on KGO-TV, Larry Beil co-anchors the station’s weekday 4 p.m. newscast. He also covers sports for the 6 and 11 PM newscasts. Beil joined the station in 2001 after six years hosting “SportsCenter” on ESPN. Previously, he was a sports reporter and anchor at KTVU in Oakland from 1990 to 1995. Beil began his journalism career at the University of Hawaii, working on the student newspaper and campus radio station. He left national television to return to local television for the lifestyle. And he loves living in the Bay Area! Beil said that when he’s not working, he’s watching sports – or working out.
Randy Forsman is a dedicated volunteer to the television industry, having served as president, trustee, and secretary of NATAS SF/NorCal and as a member of the board since 2015. As the senior newscast director at KCRA 3, he calls daily live newscasts along with a variety of special programs including several political debates seen in markets across California. From his early beginnings as a high school intern at KCOY in 1997, he has been working in the business for nearly 30 years and considers it a privilege to create impactful, meaningful broadcasts. Forsman continually challenges himself and seeks to inspire excellence among the director community and give back to the industry that has shaped his life.
She’s a reporter who knows her craft! Jodi Hernandez joined KNTV as a general assignment reporter in 2002, working primarily on the station’s 5, 6 and 11 p.m. weekday newscasts. No question, she’s a veteran. Jodi started her career in 1992 at KCPM in Chico, then moved east to Wichita, Kansas to work at KAKE-TV. Two years later, she was back in northern California at KOVR TV. Then, it was on to NBC Bay Area. She has received numerous awards including a regional Emmy®, an RTNDA award, the NLGJA Seigenthaler Video Media Award and the duPont/Columbia award. She was inducted into the National Association of Hispanic Journalists’ Hall of Fame in 2017.
Justin Kanno is considered an exceptional news photographer who goes the distance. He’s been in the field more than three decades. A NATAS SF/NorCal Shelly Fay scholarship helped launch his career as he studied videography at California State University, East Bay. At the same time, Kanno was also freelancing at KRON-TV. After graduation, he landed a job at KOLO-TV in Reno, eventually getting promoted to Chief Photographer. He later joined KHON-TV in Hawaii where he’s worked for almost 20 years. Now, he’s coming full circle from scholarship award recipient, to Silver Circle inductee. Scholarships make a difference.
Nearly 30-years in the business, Kurtis Ming remains committed to broadcast journalism and knows it can make a big difference in his community. He now anchors weekdays at KCRA 3. Prior to landing at KCRA, Ming received 11 Emmy® Awards for his dedication to the community, resolving consumer issues. Before Channel 3, he worked as an investigative reporter at CBS 13. His KOVR franchise, “Call Kurtis,” oversaw a team of dedicated volunteers helping consumers, researching multitudes of unfair practices and ultimately returning millions of dollars to consumers.
A native of Reno, Nevada, Terri Russell is an Emmy Award winning reporter. Good for her career and excellent for viewers, Russell has an advantage reporting breaking news in her market. She knows her region well. She’s called Reno “home” all of her life. She not only very familiar with the landscape, politics and social issues but also loves living there. Russell began her television adventure as an associate director. She rose through the ranks to producer. From there, she launched a long and successful reporting career. Russell has also served as a NATAS SF/NorCal Governor for years.
Tracey Watkowski Silva is Vice President of News at KGO TV in San Francisco and she’s been in the job since 2012. She’s a TV news professional with 25+ years of management experience with a strong background in newscast production. She also served as the station’s assistant news director from 1999 to 2006. She then became news director at KFSN in Fresno from 2006 to 2012. And then it was back to the city by the bay and KGO. She maintains that San Francisco is an amazing place to live with countless stories to tell. Tracey loves when her news team breaks a big story and excels with coverage of a major event.
Dale Yurong is a storyteller committed to educating viewers about agriculture, the number one industry in the Central Valley. He’s been on-air for more than four-decades. The Stockton native has been recognized with two regional Emmy® Awards. He also received the honor of being named “Reporter of the Year” by Associated Press. Yurong enthusiastically covers stories making a difference to his community, the country, and the world. His focus – agriculture in a state where harvesting food plays a key role in helping to promote California as one of the largest economies in the world. . Dale’s “Dine and Dish” food series is also a half-hour program seen coast to coast.
GOLD CIRCLE CLASS OF 2025
Steve Swatt, Former Reporter, Political Analyst, KCRA 3 (Silver Circle Class of 2016)
Steve Swatt is an award-winning political broadcast journalist who launched his TV career at Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA in 1969 after reporting stints at the San Francisco Examiner and United Press International in Los Angeles. Fifty-five years later, he continues to provide political analysis for several media outlets in the Sacramento market.
During his TV reporting career at KCRA, Swatt covered public policy and numerous presidents and governors. With an MA Degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley, he has taught and mentored graduate journalism students at Sacramento State University.
For years, Swatt served as KCRA As a State Capitol and political correspondent, he’s reported on ballot propositions, issues at the state legislature as well as state and national elections. He remains actively involved with the California Conservation Corps Foundation and Friends of California Archives boards, and has served on the Alliance for Better Campaigns board and Community Learning Advisory Board.
Swatt is author of numerous books including Game Changers: Twelve Elections That Transformed California, a political history of California. He has received an Emmy Award for his work and awards from National Health Journalism, State Bar Association, and SPJ, Association of American Political Consultants and Sacramento Public Relations Society, amongst others.
PAMELA YOUNG, Host/Producer, KHON 2, Hawaii (Silver Circle Class of 2004)
Being a woman breaking into television news in 1974, there have been many firsts for Pamela Young. Working at KPIX on the show called All Together Now with the legendary Belva Davis (SC ’89), she became the first Asian American reporter to work on that program.
Born and raised in Hawaii, Young came to the mainland to attend San Francisco State University, graduating in 1973. Those were the early days of TV and most newsrooms were packed with men. There were very few women. But that didn’t stop her.
Young stayed at KPIX for a year then moved over to PBS station KQED. Eventually,
she returned home to Hawaii, taking a job as an anchor/reporter for KHON. She’s received 12 Emmy® Awards.
In 1984, Young launched a show in Hawaii called Mixed Plate and it’s still on the air today. It’s about a little bit of everything. “Something Japanese, Chinese, Filipino.” Young has written a travel column, and a book entitled My Name Is Makia Malo about an 80-year-old person who was living with leprosy.
Young received the prestigious Governors’ Award in 2024. At this point, there’s no plan to retire. She also chairs the SF/NorCal NATAS Awards Committee. She also mentors young people entering the TV business. She’s a true pioneer.
MASTER OF CEREMONIES
DAVID LOUIE, Retired Reporter, ABC7, San Francisco (Silver Circle Class of 1995,
Gold Circle Class of 2019)
With great honor, we welcome David Louie to host our annual luncheon event. He logged more than 50 years at ABC7 News in the Bay Area, retiring from the station in 2022 as the longest tenured and its first Asian American reporter. Louie has received four regional Emmy® Awards. In 2015, he was presented with the Governors’ Award, the highest honor a chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (NATAS) can bestow. Louie served countless years as a Governor and Awards Chair for the /NorCal Chapter of NATAS.
News has been in his blood since he wrote for his high school newspaper. He loves technology and was thrilled to cover Silicon Valley and the innovators who keep creating new products and services.
Louie has made his mark in TV and NATAS, having served at the Academy’s highest level as elected national chairman (1994-96) and vice chairman (1990-94). He’s also been national president of the Asian American Journalists Association and a long-time board member of the Radio Television Digital News Association where he has endowed a scholarship for AAPI students at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
LUNCHEON
The festivities at the Basque Cultural Center, 599 Railroad Avenue, South San Francisco start at 11am with a no host reception followed by the presentation of the 2025 collegiate scholarships at noon. Lunch follows with entrée’s: Veal Roast Au jus, Salmon with Champagne Sauce, or Vegetarian Mushroom Risotto. Bogle Family Vineyards 2023 Chardonnay, Clarksburg and Wente Vineyards 2021Wetmore Cabernet Sauvignon. Along with a house salad, dinner roll, and Chocolate Mousse for dessert.
The Induction Ceremony will start as dessert is served. A champagne toast with 2018 Blanc de Nor Sparkling Wine from Benovia Winery will honor all the members of the Gold & Silver Circle.
Purchase tickets by October 4th and save $25. Tickets are $100 for members and $120 for non-members, and $125 & $145 after October 4th. Reserved Tables of ten are $1,000. Please know that $20 of each ticket will be donated to the NATAS Scholarship Fund.
LINK TO PURCHASE INDIVIDUAL TICKETS
LINK TO PURCHASE A TABLE OF TEN
Program Salutations: Full page, Half page, Business Card. E-mail or call Joyce.
Contact:: Joyce Mitchell
Chair, Gold & Silver Circle Committee
joycemitchell50@gmail.com
(916) 995-6923
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NOMINATION FORMS: Silver Circle Gold Circle
Application deadline: April 15, 2026
The Silver Circle is not an award — it is a society of honor. To be eligible for membership, individuals must have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 25 years or more (with at least half of those years in the chapter region), made a significant contribution to their local television markets and distinguished themselves within the industry and the community. Silver Circle inductees are elected by current members of the Silver Circle.
The Gold Circle honors individuals who have been actively engaged in television broadcasting for 50 years or more (with at least half of those years in the chapter region) and who have fulfilled the same criteria as Silver Circle nominees. Gold Circle inductees are elected by the NATAS Chapter Board of Governors.
NOMINATION PROCESS: The Gold & Silver Circle Committee selects nominations from the applications received. The cut-off for induction is determined by the Silver Circle Committee. Voting for the Silver Circle is done by the Silver Circle membership. Voting for Gold Circle membership is done by the Board of Governors.