If you’re a KAJO listener, you’re probably familiar with the voice of Scott Jorgensen, the 28-year old news director at the Grants Pass-based radio station. Whether covering all the state and local political races, moderating forums or interviewing local newsmakers, Scott has become the familiar voice of KAJO’s news department since 2007.

Scott has always been a political junkie with a journalist’s perspective, so the job is a natural fit. Born in 1980 (as he puts it, a “Reagan Baby”) in Twenty-Nine Palms, California to a Marine Corps family, he moved to Grants Pass in time to attend Grants Pass High as the new campus replaced the old, leaving in 1998. He attended RCC – one of his “favorite places on earth” – before receiving his B.S. in Journalism and Political Science from Southern Oregon University in 2003.

Scott started his reporting career during his days in Ashland, first as an intern at the Daily Tidings and later as a stringer for the Central Point Sun. From that vantage point, he quickly became one of the go-to reporters for the local political races throughout Jackson County during the 2002 election season.

On graduation, Scott took a full time job with a daily paper in Turlock, California. He soon realized his mistake. Not only was it a dull beat, but as a place to live one would fare better, say, as a cowboy than a news reporter…a cowboy who doesn’t care about dust, dung or lack of scenery.

After six months of the cow town beat, he headed back home to Oregon, landing a job as press secretary to the Republican candidate running against the ever-popular Peter DeFazio for the 4th Congressional District in 2004. That later led to a job as legislative aide to State Representative Dennis Richardson, until he returned from Salem and fell in love with Annaka Leverett of O’Brien.

He and Annaka were married after a seven-month courtship in 2007. They now have an 11-month old baby, James Kennedy. We spoke a little about the old Fairness Doctrine, which was largely dismantled by Ronald Reagan in 1987. KAJO’s conservative programming schedule includes not only a monthly interview with County Commissioner Jim Raffenburg, but also a 3-hour daily dose of Rush Limbaugh. Scott said that if the old Fairness Doctrine were restored, the station would have to choose between balancing all of its conservative commentators with liberal ones – and risk losing its established audience – or else cut out political commentary altogether.

Scott, being a smart man with lots of ambition, has already set his sights on the next level. He’s pursuing an MBA from Southern in their Saturday program at the Joint Learning Center in Medford while juggling duties at the station and as a new father. Asked where he’d like to be in 10 years, he replied, “I’d like to be using my MBA to help start up small businesses throughout this county, so I can help get more people employed.”