Mark Sauer
Journalist
Mark Sauer spent 27 years as a reporter and editor at The San Diego Union-Tribune after stints at The Houston Post and at two papers in his native Michigan.
He joined KPBS as senior news editor in October 2010 and currently hosts the KPBS Roundtable, an influential talk show that airs on Fridays on radio and TV.
Sauer’s exposure of the false accusations and prosecutions of several San Diegans for murder, rape and child abuse won many regional and local journalism awards, including the Sol Price Award for Responsible Journalism.
Published Work
The Education of Mr. J.
Published April 16, 2008 in San Diego Magazine.
The young thug’s shave skull bore a tattoo of a gargoyle holding the severed head of Jesus. He approached in slow motion, swinging his head side to side, muttering expletives. His target, Thad Jesperson, sat motionless in a corner of the jail cell reserved for snitches, gays and child molesters. The ex-teacher’s eyes were wide with terror, his ears ringing with screams from adjoining cells: “Get him! Kill him!” His nightmare—that he would not get back home safely to his family—was playing out. Read more…
Justice Delayed
Published June 11, 2010 in San Diego Magazine.
His searchlights blazing, Officer Scott Walters pulled up to the Crowe family’s house at the end of a long, T-shaped driveway. He was looking for a prowler, a Charles Manson look-alike who had peered through neighbors’ windows that night and entered one home, asking for a girl named Tracy. Two frightened neighbors had called 911. Read more…
