About the Money: About the Series
Show Description
About The Money is KCTS 9's business and finance show that spotlights Northwest business and provides advice on protecting, managing and investing your money. About the Money goes behind the headlines to ask questions about what market trends mean to us in the Northwest, from the national housing market changes to the Washington wine industry. Regular contributors provide investment trend analysis with a focus on the long term; insight into where the smart money is when it comes to personal finance; and tips for avoiding scams, from identity theft to foreclosure rescue scams and investment fraud. And, we continue our interviews with business leaders in each episode.
Biographies
Josephine Cheng, Host
Josephine Cheng is a broadcast journalist well known in the Northwest for her reporting, anchoring and producing. For many years she reported for KING-TV’s Evening Magazine: she’s helped bust counterfeiters in Hong Kong, rescued endangered sea turtles in Costa Rica, witnessed families living in a huge Mexican dump, and shared memorable stories of people here in Western Washington. She also reported live from the scene of many large community events, including New Year's at the Needle and WAMU Family Fourth holiday fireworks shows. Josephine has vast experience in daily news reporting, at KOMO-TV as well as stations in Oregon. She’s been a showcased health reporter, a political reporter, and a host of a weekly public affairs show.
Josephine has been nationally recognized for her outstanding work, including 10 Regional Emmy Awards for reporting, writing and hosting, three national Clarion Awards, two national Gracie Awards, and numerous awards from the Society of Professional Journalists, the Best of the West, and the Asian American Journalists Association. Josephine is a graduate of U.C. Berkeley and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Elaine Purchase, Producer
Elaine Purchase has been producing award-winning documentary and news programs for local and national distribution for three decades. She has won the Peabody Award, the NAPTE Iris Award, two national and 25 Northwest Regional Emmy Awards for her work, which has appeared on KOMO TV, The Learning Channel, Discovery Channel, among many others, and now on KCTS 9.
Prior to her current work with KCTS 9, Purchase was producer, writer and head of internationally acclaimed documentary programming for KOMO TV in Seattle. More recently, she has produced and written material for diverse clients such as Microsoft, National Geographic Channel and the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. She has also served as Development Director for the Pediatric Interim Care Center of Kent, Washington, raising more than $4 million in capital and operating funds for the nonprofit organization.
In addition to producing About The Money, Purchase continues as a freelance writer and producer.
Lesley McClurg, Associate Producer
Lesley McClurg is an Emmy Award-winning producer passionate about telling stories that promote environmental awareness and social justice. Lesley has reported on critical and timely topics like Northwest soldiers suffering from traumatic brain injury, cruise ship pollution in Seattle’s harbors, and our state’s increasing need for prison reform. Lesley works on all of KCTS 9’s local productions including About The Money, KCTS 9 Connects and Conversations. Although Lesley acts in many roles, her favorite is being in the interview chair. Her most memorable interviewees are Gloria Steinem, Gary Snyder, and Isabelle Allende.
Before coming to KCTS 9, Lesley was the associate producer and project coordinator for Woody Creek Productions in Fremont for several years, where she headed the outreach campaign for the blockbuster hit The Heart of the Game (Miramax 2006). She also worked with writer/director Ward Serrill on several promotional films for Seattle advocacy organizations.
Lesley’s gypsy nature has inspired extensive overseas travel and a passion for studying languages. After work, you can usually find Lesley climbing or cycling unless it is snowing, and then she will be making a mad dash for the mountains.
