Jim Gates
Senior Editor
About
As Senior Editor Jim heads up the development of podcasts for KUOW’s AudioShop and helps guide reporters and producers through their stories. He helped develop KUOW’s daily news podcast Seattle Now and currently oversees THE WILD with Chris Morgan. Other podcasts he oversaw and edited include Second Wave, Battle Tactics for Your Sexist Workplace and How to Be a Girl which was nominated for a Peabody Award. Jim developed KUOW’s popular community story telling project Local Wonder where listeners ask questions about their community and then vote on the stories that they want KUOW reporters to cover.
Jim helped to oversee and develop one of public radio’s first investigative reporting units at KUOW with the mission to provide in-depth coverage of issues that affect Washington and the Puget Sound Region. Jim was the fill-in news director and led the breaking news coverage on several major stories.
Prior to coming to KUOW, Jim worked as an editor on such national shows as NPR’s Day to Day and Marketplace. Jim helped develop and launch the weekly magazine show Weekend America where he directed the live broadcast and edited feature stories. He started his public radio career as a volunteer at NPR member station KPCC in Los Angeles. Jim kept showing up at the station and eventually they actually started paying him. Jim moved to national programming when he joined the staff of The Savvy Traveler in 2000 as producer of the interview and listener segments.
Jim’s career in story telling began when he was a television writer on several sitcoms (a skill that is oddly applicable to public radio). He was on the writing team of The Discovery Channel’s first fiction show Animal Rescue Kids which won two Genesis Awards from the Human Society of the United States.
Location: Seattle
Language: English
Pronouns: he/him/his
To see more of Jim's past KUOW work, visit our archive site.
Podcasts
Stories
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Environment
The secret lives of trees
I dial into the wood wide web to understand how trees communicate.
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KUOW's THE WILD with Chris Morgan returns in February
Ecologist and award-winning filmmaker Chris Morgan kicks off season 2 with more adventures in the wild.
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Environment
Waiting for penguins
Wildlife filmmakers Jeff Wilson and Mark Smith spill on what life is like among the “super over-caffeinated” Adelie penguins.
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Environment
A harsh life among 'super over-caffeinated' penguins
I talk with two filmmakers who got up close and personal with Antarctic penguins.
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This woman was among the first to swim in West Seattle's Colman Pool
Jean Carroll got the call on July 3, 1941.
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Why a Seattle commuter burst into song on a crowded bus
Bill Radke talks with senior editor Jim Gates about a surprising occurrence during his morning commute: a bus rider burst into song on a packed C-Line...
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Seattle Teachers Go On Strike, First Time In 30 Years
Public school teachers in Seattle went on strike Wednesday over a contract dispute for the first time in 30 years. The walkout comes after last-minute...
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Winning The Housing Lottery, But Waiting Years For It To Come Through
Jeannie Yandel speaks with Sahra Muhumed, who made it onto the wait list for King County Housing Authority's Section 8 Program. When the wait list...
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Proposed Coal Terminals Denied Permit In Oregon
Ross Reynolds talks with KUOW reporter Ashley Ahearn about what the denial of a key permit for a coal terminal in Oregon means for Washington state.
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Is the 'Seattle freeze' a real thing?
When John Reese moved from northern Illinois to Seattle last year he kept hearing people talking about the Seattle Freeze. So far he hasn’t seen any...