After 28 years, KQED radio host Scott Shafer announces retirement

One of the most experienced broadcasters at Bay Area NPR member station KQED has announced his retirement. Scott Shafer, veteran political reporter, will retire in December. He made the announcement on Wednesday’s episode of “The Speaker,” his podcast series about Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi.

Read more Pink Floyd frontman calls James Hetfield of Metallica an expletive

“Like Pelosi, I’m also retiring this year,” Shafer said, in a precursor to an interview with Pelosi. “Now, just to be clear, the similarities end there. There won’t be any buildings named after me, but we’re both leaving at a time of change for the Democratic Party, the institution Pelosi has devoted her life to.” 

After a stint working in politics for Mayor Art Agnos, he joined KQED in 1998, hosting “The California Report,” which is now broadcast on more than 20 California public media stations. 

Shafer then went on to co-host the weekly radio program “Political Breakdown.” He’s interviewed a Mount Rushmore’s worth of Bay Area politicians, including Gavin Newsom, Nancy Pelosi, Kamala Harris, Dianne Feinstein and Jerry Brown, whom he covered in an eight-part podcast series.

“In politics today elected officials and candidates are so scripted and characterized often in unflattering ways by the media and others,” Shafer said in an interview with California Humanities. “We want Political Breakdown and this series on Jerry Brown to help personalize them for our listeners. By providing the space for them to tell their stories — where they came from, how they got where they are, what drives them, etc. — we find that politicians and others quickly forget their talking points and allow themselves to be the people they are.”

One of Shafer’s most notable assignments was reporting on the legal battle for same-sex marriage equality, which he began covering in 2004. 

Read more Black bear steals honey from California library on ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’ anniversary

After the U.S. Supreme Court dismissed a proposition to abolish the marriage rights of same-sex couples in 2010, Shafer initiated a KQED lawsuit to unseal the trial tapes. Other news organizations joined the suit, which reached the U.S. Supreme Court, leading to the release of the tapes in 2023.

“Working for KQED has given me a front row seat to historic events and people, and a chance to cover controversial and important issues,” Shafer said in a release from KQED regarding his retirement. “I am profoundly grateful to KQED for giving me the support, encouragement, resources and independence to follow those stories wherever they led.”

Although he’ll retire from regular broadcasting, Shafer will remain in KQED’s pool of on-call reporters; however, he’ll now have much more time for hobbies like pickleball. And even though he may not have any buildings named after him like Nancy Pelosi, given his long tenure at KQED, he may at least become the namesake of a conference room in the station’s Mission District offices.