MarketInk: After 50 years of covering politicians, ex-KUSI news director Steve Cohen is running for Congress
In October 2023, when Nexstar Media Group finalized its acquisition of McKinnon Broadcasting Co. and San Diego’s KUSI-TV, Steve Cohen’s 20-year run as KUSI’s news director was over. At the time, Cohen was in his 50th year of working in television news.
During his half-century in TV newsroom executive positions, Cohen managed TV newsrooms in some of America’s largest markets, including New York, Detroit, Philadelphia and Los Angeles, as well as stations in Arkansas, Utah and Buffalo, New York. His earned his first news director job in 1973 in Peoria, Ill.
Since leaving KUSI three years ago, Cohen has kept busy as a TV consultant. He has advised Christopher Ruddy, majority owner of Newsmax Media and Newsmax TV.
“I thought about running for San Diego mayor, but I didn’t pursue it,” Cohen told Times of San Diego.
Then, last March, Cohen said he received a phone call from the Republican Party of San Diego County.
“They were looking for candidates to run for Congress against Scott Peters, an…