The Voice of Lake Tahoe | Julie Brown Davis | E62

In an age where local journalism is struggling to survive, Lake Tahoe is fortunate to have Julie Brown Davis, a West Shore native and staff writer for SFGATE who exclusively covers Lake Tahoe. As the daughter of ski bums who moved to Tahoe in the 1970s, Julie grew up skiing Homewood and Alpine Meadows, worked her first journalism gig at the Sierra Sun and eventually became managing editor of Powder Magazine. After a handful of years as a freelancer, Julie has returned to her journalism roots as a staff reporter, and she isn’t afraid to take on the big, controversial stories. On Episode 62 the boys chat with Julie about stories including infamous bears, the crush of tourists amidst the changing face of Tahoe, the role of TRPA, the negative effects of the season ski pass from mega resorts, recent federal staffing cuts and the potential impacts it will have on Tahoe tourism, the effect AI has on journalism and why corn is the new pow.

2:15 – Happy Mother’s Day!

8:00 – Introducing Julie Brown Davis – professional journalist who works as the SFGATE Tahoe editor.

13:00 – Trail Whisperer and his former life as a freelance writer for Chevron.

14:20 – What kind of gasoline should you put in your vehicle?

19:00 - The problem with bears in Lake Tahoe and all the bear stories Julie has reported on.

29:20 – Julie’s youth growing up on the West Shore of Lake Tahoe in Tahoma.

35:42 – Julie’s path to getting into writing as a profession and her first job at the Sierra Sun and Tahoe World, later writing for Moonshine Ink and going to UC Berkeley for graduate school.

41:45 – Going from an unpaid intern to managing editor at Powder Magazine and Transworld.

46:46 – What print magazines and newspapers do you subscribe to?

52:14 – Being a full-time employee for SFGATE as the Lake Tahoe region beat reporter.

57:28 – Is there a sustainable future for recreation, traffic control and parking in Lake Tahoe?

1:00:20 – Is the cheap season pass from IKON and Vail Resorts good for mountain communities?

1:06:55 – What is a better model for digital media – paywall or free content that’s ad driven?

1:11:15 – Julie’s story about the history of Graeagle, California and the West family who owned Vikingsholm in Emerald Bay.

1:15:30 – Doing a story about the wolf pack situation in Plumas and Sierra County.

1:19:31 – Using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to make reporting quicker and easier, but it isn’t developed enough to replace good journalists.

1:22:20 – Reporting on federal staffing cuts to the U.S. Forest Service and the negative impact it will have on the summer tourism season in Lake Tahoe.

1:28:05 – Road construction, new bridges, new bike paths, tons of traffic and the TRPA transportation plan.

1:31:00 – Lightning round questions for Julie.

1:16:30 – What does Mind the Track mean to you?