Benjamin Purper
News Director 2021-2023Benjamin Purper was News Director of KCBX from May of 2021 to September of 2023. He came from California’s Inland Empire, where he spent three years as a reporter and Morning Edition host at KVCR in San Bernardino. Dozens of his stories have aired on KQED’s California Report, and his work has broadcast on NPR's news magazines, as well. In addition to radio, Ben has worked as a newspaper reporter and freelance writer.
He attended the University of Redlands, where he studied International Relations with minors in Instrumental Performance and Latin American Studies, and studied abroad in Mexico and Argentina.
Benjamin's journalism career started in college, when his university’s newspaper was abruptly shut down and defunded. He and the newspaper staff raised money and started a new, independent online newspaper, of which he became Editor-in-Chief for two years. After college, he completed an internship with NPR in their Culver City office, then worked as both a newspaper and public radio reporter.
Besides public radio, Benjamin enjoys music (he plays bass), writing and traveling.
You can reach the news department by email at news@kcbx.org.
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Climate change is intensifying disasters like wildfires, storms and extreme drought all over the world — including here on the Central Coast. There’s a growing call to stop using the term “natural disaster” for these types of events, as some argue they’re influenced by human factors like climate change, lack of infrastructure and political instability. -
The Port of Long Beach is proposing a new 400-acre facility called Pier Wind, where offshore wind turbines would be manufactured and assembled, then shipped up the coast to SLO and Humboldt Counties. -
Local researchers are gathering data on San Luis Obispo County’s indigenous Latinx population. They say it’s meant to better understand and address this community’s healthcare challenges. -
Budget negotiations in the California legislature could lead to major cuts in food benefits for low-income Californians. The cuts would hit a program that lets CalFresh benefits count double at farmers' markets. -
Few community colleges in rural and conservative areas of California have LGBTQ+ student centers. New funding from the state could help create these spaces or fund other LGBTQ+ services. -
The City of Salinas is home to one of the Central Coast’s most important literary figures. It’s the birthplace of John Steinbeck and the setting for some of his most famous novels like "East of Eden" and "Of Mice and Men." -
A tropical cyclone is causing a major humanitarian disaster in much of East Africa right now. Two Santa Barbara-based humanitarian nonprofits are responding. -
The Central Coast Queer Archive Project is co-hosting an event on May 12 ahead of Pride Month in June. They describe it as a “re-queering” of a San Luis Obispo business which used to be one of the few gay bars in the city’s history. -
The forum is at 6p.m. both in-person at the SLO County Supervisor Chambers and over a live stream. -
Congressman Salud Carbajal has reintroduced the California Clean Coast Act to ban future offshore oil and gas leasing off the coast of California.
