January 28, 2024

Thursday, February 1, 2024:

Greetings:

It’s been a busy week for Tegna, which filled one opening today, 24 hours after another was created (we told you yesterday that TIM RYAN is leaving Denver’s KUSA-TV.)

Schaab

Today’s news comes from St. Louis, where KSDK-TV (NBC) announced that MORGAN SCHAAB will be the next Director of Content. Here’s the note to the staff from GM ALICIA EISNER. Morgan has spent the last 2 1/2 years as Director of Content for sister Tegna staton KFSM-TV (CBS). She’d previously spent 14 years at WAND-TV in Decatur, IL, the last 5+ years as news director.

At KSDK, Morgan replaces CAROL FOWLER who was promoted to Director of Content for Tegna’s WXIA-TV (NBC) in Atlanta earlier this year. Carol spent 4+ years here and, as you know, spent many years in Chicago as ND for three different stations.

ART HOLLIDAY remains news director at KSDK, and he’ll report to Morgan.

As I mentioned yesterday, this weekend’s newsletter will be busy!

regards,

Rick Gevers

Wednesday, January 31, 2024:

Greetings:

A big change in Denver as a longtime news manager is leaving after 40 years in our business, 30 of them at the same station (in two stints.)

Ryan

TIM RYAN, who’s been Executive News Director for Tegna”s KUSA-TV (NBC) for the last four years, will be leaving in the next several months. GM MARK CORNETTA‘s email shares Tim’s note to the staff, in which Tim hinted at his next move.

Tim retuned to KUSA four years ago after 2 1/2 years as ND for Tegna’s KVUE-TV in Austin, TX.

Before Austin, Tim spent 26 years at KUSA, starting as weekend assignment editor.

He was promoted a number of times, and was the Assistant ND when he went to KVUE. He began his career as a reporter, working in Columbia, MO, Ft. Smith, AR, and Wichita,

There’s lots of other news to share. Our Sunday newsletter will be a busy one.

regards,

Rick Gevers

Monday, January 29, 2024 UPDATE:

Greetings:

A news director turned general manager turned agent…has turned again, this time back to a GM gig.

Dallman

BILL DALLMAN joins Nexstar as general manager for its Grand Junction, CO, stations, KREX/KGJT-TV (CBS/MyNetwork). Here’s the news release from the company. Bill’s last mention here was an October report on his move to begin a career as an agent. Before that, he spent two years as a General Manager for Tegna’s KARE-TV (NBC) in Minneapolis, following a long career as a news director in multiple markets.

The move returns Bill and his wife ANGIE to Colorado, where they lived when Bill was ND for KDVR/KWGN-TV there. And I believe one of their children lives in Denver.

We’ll see you Sunday with our full newsletter.

regards,

Rick Gevers

**** ***** ****

Greetings:

We’ve used this line below, but after 28+ years I’m running out of cliches.

THREE up and THREE down is a baseball term for a perfect inning, but this week it describes the number of NEW openings and NEW news directors in our report this week.

Our total of open ND jobs remains at 31 with just ONE paid ad for an EP job for a political program in Washington, DC.

We also have ads for deadlines for The Scripps Howard Awards (deadline this week, cash prizes involved) and for RTDNA’s Edward R Murrow Awards.

And we have an ad from Sciline which is offering a number of interesting sessions, including one that is tomorrow afternoon. Check out their ad just below.

And while on the topic of awards, the duPont-Columbia award winners are announced, and many local stations are honored. We have the list.

We have ONE obituary for a Memphis newswoman who died this week. She was just 38.

There’s ONE new GM to tell you about, a promotion within Sinclair.

Speaking of Sinclair, executive chairman DAVID SMITH is in the news again, as his planned purchase of The Baltimore Sun had an interesting impact on other news organizations. And Smith’s behind the scene’s role in a law suit against Baltimore schools in unmentioned…at least until now…in stories by Sinclair’s Baltimore station.

Finally, former GM HANK PRICE wonders if stations are essentially penny-wise and pound foolish in retention decisions. His column is below.

All this and more below!

Crash Course: Stats essentials for math-averse reporters

Monday, January 29^th (2-3 p.m. ET) on Zoom

Many journalists lack confidence when including numbers in their reporting, or they fear misrepresenting the data when it comes to covering facts and figures, studies, or technical reports. This free, one-hour “crash course”—designed for reporters who cover science, health, or environment issues but lack statistics or data training—aims to take the stress out of reporting on the numbers that could be crucial to your next story.

Tori Espensen and Emily Mueller—Ph.D. scientists and trained science communicators—will lead a 45-minute presentation and 15-minutes of open Q&A that will help you:

Understand statistical concepts such as risk and odds, correlation strength, absolute and relative numbers, and statistical significance and how to use them in your reporting;
Explain to your audience how much uncertainty exists around a given finding and how to judge the strength and importance of that finding;
Recognize statistical red flags that should prompt deeper questions about a study or dataset; and
Include numbers and data in your reporting in ways that are accessible, clear, and meaningful to readers/listeners/viewers.

More from SciLine:

FREE training opportunities:

Feb. 6 (2-3 p.m. ET): Science essentials for local reporters

Interview an expert:

Feb. 1 (1-3 p.m. ET): Avalanches (Dr. Ethan Greene, Colorado Mountain College)
Feb. 5 (1-3 p.m. ET): Snow and wildfire (Dr. Anne Nolin, U. of Nevada, Reno)
Feb. 22 (noon-2 p.m. ET): The consequences of sports specialization (Dr. Nirav Pandya – UCSF)
Feb. 29 (2-4 p.m. ET): Veterinary staffing shortages (Dr. Laura Molgaard – U. of Minnesota)
Mar. 7 (1-3 p.m. ET): Eating invasives (Dr. Joe Roman – U. of Vermont)
April 10 (1-3 p.m. ET): Lead pipes (Dr. Mary Jean Brown, Harvard)

SciLine, a philanthropically funded, free service for reporters, arranges 1-on-1, broadcast-quality interview opportunities with articulate scientists. Reporters can book 15 mins with them via Zoom or request a SciLine interview clip for your use. SciLine also runs a free expert matching service that connects reporters rapidly to scientist-sources on deadline.

Newly Named News Directors:

Friedrich

WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC…our Tuesday UPDATE reported that MIKE FRIEDRICH will be the next ND for this Capitol Broadcasting owned NBC affiliate. The staff note is here, the news release here, and Mike’s complete work history is here. He’s currently the ND for Sinclair’s KUTV (CBS) in Salt Lake City. At WRAL, Mike will success RICK GALL who will retire at the end of May after almost 19 years as ND.

Grubs

KOB-TV, Albuquerque, NM…MATT GRUBS has been promoted to ND for this Hubbard Broadcasting owned NBC affiliate. He’s been a part of KOB’s investigative unit since October 2021. More on his background in his not-yet updated station bio. Matt replaces TIM MAESTAS who left late last year. Tim, who has a law degree, took a job with the New Mexico Attorney General’s office. He was ND here for almost five years.

Kirby

KIDY/KXVA-TV, San Angelo/Abilene, TX…JOHN KIRBY, a former news director in Grand Junction, CO, has been hired as ND for these Tegna owned FOX affiliates. He replaces GABE VELA who was ND here for two years. He returns to Tegna’s KENS-TV in San Antonio as an executive producer. Gabe was a producer at KENS before taking the ND job in San Angelo.

New News Director Openings:

KUTV, Salt Lake City, UT…you learned above that MIKE FRIEDRICH is leaving this Sinclair owned CBS affiliate after 2+ years as ND. He’ll be the new ND for WRAL-TV in Raleigh, NC.

Sylvester

WAND-TV, Decatur, IL…JACKLYNN SYLVESTER is leaving to become the Assistant ND for Tegna’s WBNS-TV (CBS) in Columbus, OH. WBNS ND RICK McLAUGHLIN shared the news with his staff. She’s been ND for this Block Communicatons station for two years, was the AND for two years, and also worked as a producer in Ft. Myers, FL.

Speier

KOSA-TV, Odessa, TX…DREW SPEIER is retiring from TV after more than 40 years, the last 2+ as the ND for this Gray TV owned CBS affiliate. Drew’s spent much of his career as a news and sports anchor in multiple markets. His Linkedin page has a thorough summary of his previous stops.

The 71st Scripps Howard Awards, one of the nation’s most prestigious American journalism competitions, is accepting entries from now until Feb. 5, 2024, for journalism and storytelling produced in 2023.

Click here to enter the 70th Scripps Howard Awards.

This year’s awards offer $170,000 in prize money in 15 categories:

Audio Storytelling
Breaking News
Business/Financial Reporting
Environmental Reporting
Distinguished Service to the First Amendment
Narrative Human-Interest Storytelling
Visual Human-Interest Storytelling
Innovation
Local/Regional Investigative Reporting
National/International Investigative Reporting
Multimedia Journalism
Opinion Writing
Local Video Storytelling
National/International Video Storytelling
Impact Award

The awards honor work from television stations, networks, radio and podcasts, visual media, online media outlets, independent producers, newspapers and other print publications.

Finalists will be announced in September, with winners announced in October during a special program airing on Scripps News, the national broadcast news network owned by The E.W. Scripps Company.

Learn more about the categories and watch videos from last year’s finalists at SHAwards.org.

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

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Cover the future of politics for the digital media juggernaut – The Hill- and become a part of the largest TV ownership group in the nation- Nexstar Media Group.

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Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

KNBC/KVEA-TV, Los Angeles, CA (relisted 1/7/24)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (relisted 1/7/24)
KVVU-TV, Las Vegas, NV (relisted 1/21/24)
WHTM-TV, Harrisburg, PA (listed 1/7/24)
WACH-TV, Columbia, SC (listed 1/14/24)
WLTX-TV, Columbia, SC (relisted 1/7/24)
WTVC-TV, Chattanooga, TN (listed 1/14/24)
WCIV-TV, Charleston, SC (listed 1/14/24)
KBOI-TV, Boise, ID (listed 1/14/24)
WGXA-TV, Macon, GA (listed 1/14/24)
KVII-TV, Amarillo, TX (listed 1/14/24)
KBMT-TV, Beaumont, TX (relisted 1/7/24)
KTVO-TV, Kirksville, MO (also PM anchor, listed 1/14/24)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WPIX-TV, New York, NY (Sports EP, listed 12/3/23)
WPIX-TV, New York, NY (listed 1/21/24)
KNBC-TV, Los Angeles, CA (relisted 1/7/24)
WJLA-TV, Washington, DC (PM EP, relisted 1/14/24)
The Hill, Washington, DC (Rising Program, listed 1/21/24, see ad above!)
Nexstar DC Bureau, Washinton, DC (listed 12/24/23)
WSNN-TV, Sarasota, FL (listed 1/7/24)
WTSP-TV, Tampa/St. Petersburg (AM EP, relisted 1/7/24)
KUSA-TV, Denver, CO (relisted 1/7/24)
KATU-TV, Portland, OR (listed 11/12/23)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (relisted 1/7/24)
WRTV, Indianapolis IN (Digital EP, listed 11/12/23)
WTHR-TV, Indianapolis, IN (AM EP, relisted 1/7/24)
WXIN/WTTV, Indianapolis, IN (relisted 12/24/23)
WKRN-TV, Nashville, TN (relisted 12/24/23)
KUSI-TV, San Diego, CA (listed 12/17/23)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (AM EP, relisted 1/7/24)
WTIC-TV, Hartford, CT (relisted 1/7/24)
WTNH-TV, Hartford/New Haven, CT (relisted 1/7/24)
WPEC-TV, W. Palm Beach, FL (listed 1/14/24)
KSNV-TV, Las Vegas, NV (listed 1/14/24)
WAVY-TV, Norfolk, VA (listed 1/21/24)
WVEC-TV, Norfolk, VA (AM EP, (relisted 1/7/24)
WGNO-TV, New Orleans, LA (AM EP, listed 1/28/24)
WRIC-TV, Richmond, VA (Digital EP, listed 1/21/24)
WRGB-TV, Albany, NY (listed 1/14/24)
WKEF-TV, Dayton, OH (listed 12/3/23)
KHON-TV, Honolulu, HI (listed 1/28/24)
WTVC-TV, Chattanooga, TN (relisted 1/14/24)
WBTW-TV, Myrtle Beach, SC (AM EP, listed 1/21/24)
WJHL-TV, Johnson City, TN (relisted 1/7/24)
WCTI-TV, New Bern, NC (listed 1/14/24)
WTAJ-TV, Altoona, PA (Digital EP, listed 12/17/23)
WJAC-TV, Johnstown, PA (listed 1/14/24)
WRDW/WAGT-TV, Augusta, GA (listed 1/14/24)
WMBB-TV, Panama City, FL (Digital EP, listed 1/21/24)

MANAGING EDITOR:

KHON-TV, Honolulu, HI (listed 1/28/24)

More News Management Openings:

Relisted 1/7/24:

WATN-TV, Memphis, TN (Director of Digital Content)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (Director of Digital Content)

Obituary:

Hanson

Our sympathy to the staff at WMC-TV in Memphis on the death of AMANDA HANSON. Amanda was the Leader of Digital Innovation for this Gray owned NBC affiliate. She died this week at the age of 38. This station obituary mentions her recent marriage but does not list a cause of death. Amanda had worked at the station since April, 2021.

Names in the News:

A clarification on last week’s report that MATEO GAMBOA was going to CBS’s KTVT/KTXA-TV as Assistant ND. That’s correct, but what we didn’t know is that Mateo will be one of TWO Assistant NDs there. He’ll oversee mornings, while GINGER MADDOX remains AND for days and evenings.

The duPont-Columbia Awards announced the winners of the coveted Silver Baton and finalists this week. Multiple local stations (too many to single out here) were among the 15 Silver Baton winners and 14 finalists, but you can see for yourself by clicking here.

Sinclair Executive Chairman DAVID SMITH‘s purchase of The Baltimore Sun newspaper has had an interesting side effect: a bump in attention, clicks and donations to other news sites in Baltimore.

Meanwhile, Sinclair’s Baltimore station WBFF-TV (FOX) had aired multiple stories about a lawsuit against Baltimore City Schools without mentioning that Smith was behind the suit. A Sinclair spokesperson said the station and its reporters were unaware of Smith’s involvement and that appropriate disclosures would be made going forward. The conflict was reported by The Baltimore Banner, one of those news sites gaining subscribers.

Former GM HANK PRICE offers some thoughts about stations losing key news talent over a relatively small amount of money. Not to put words in Hank’s mouth, but essentially penny-wise and pound foolish. Check out his column from TVNewsCheck.

General Manager News and Notes:

DIANA WILKIN moves within Sinclair to become GM for WPEC/WFTX-TV (CBS/CW) in West Palm Beach, FL. She’s been the VP/GM for KOKH/KOCB-TV in Oklahoma City.

Our List of Open News Director jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, January 28, 2024:

It’s unofficial, there may be others that are open, and some of these may have been filled. If you know of any in either category, please let me know: rick@rickgevers.com

News 12 Bronx/Brooklyn, 930 Soundview Ave. Bronx, NY 10473
KXTX-TV 4805 Amon Carter Boulevard, Ft. Worth, TX, 75155 **
KDVR/KWGN-TV 100 East Speer Blvd. Denver, CO 80203
WCNC-TV 1001 Wood Ridge Center Dr. Charlotte, NC 28217
KSDK-TV 1000 Market Street St. Louis, MO 63101 (Director of Content)
WTAE-TV 400 Ardmore Blvd Pittsburgh PA 15221
KUTV 299 South Main Street, #150 Salt Lake City, UT 84111
WHP-TV, 2300 N Cameron St Harrisburg PA 17110
WBMA-TV 800 Concourse Pkwy Ste 200. Hoover, AL 35244
WOLF-TV 1181 Highway 315 Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702 (News Manager)
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Rd. Schenectady, NY 12309
WHEC-TV 191 East Ave, Rochester, NY 14604
WZDX-TV 1309 N. Memorial Parkway Huntsville, AL 35801
KNVO-TV, 801 North Jackson Rd., McAllen TX 78501 **
WAND-TV 904 W. South Side Drive. Decatur, IL 62526
WBRZ-TV 1650 Highland Road, Baton Rouge, LA 70802
KLEW-TV 2626 17th St, Lewiston, ID 83501
WNCT-TV 3221 South Evans Street. Greenville, NC 27834
KYTX-TV 2211 ESE Loop 323. Tyler, TX 75701
KNDU/KNDO-TV 216 W. Yakima Ave. Yakima, WA 98902
KDRV-TV 1090 Knutson Avenue Medford, OR 97504
KBJR-TV 246 S Lake Ave, Duluth, MN 55802
KXMB-TV 1811 N 15th Street Bismarck, ND 58501
KOSA-TV 4101 E. 42nd. Suite J-7. Odessa, TX. 79761
WTWO-TV 10849 N US Highway 41, Farmersburg, IN 47850
WDTV 5 Television Dr. Bridgeport, WV 26330
WWNY-TV 120 Arcade St. Watertown, NY 13601
KGNS-TV 120 W. Del Mar Blvd. Laredo TX 78041
KGWN-TV, 2923 E. Lincolnway. Cheyenne, WY 82001
KYOU-TV 820 West 2nd Street; Ottumwa, IA 52501
KQTV 4000 Faraon St. Joseph, MO 64506

**: Spanish language station

January 21, 2024

January 23, 2024 UPDATE:

Greetings:

After a long search, one of the top openings on our list has been filled.

Friedrich

MIKE FRIEDRICH will be the next news director for WRAL-TV (NBC) in Raleigh. Here’s the note from WRAL General Manager JOEL DAVIS to the station, while you can read the full news release here.

Mike’s been the ND for Sinclair’s KUTV (CBS) in Salt Lake City since the fall of 2021. His complete work history (including a three year hiatus from TV news) is detailed on his Linkedin page.

Mike will replace longtime WRAL ND RICK GALL who will retire at the end of May. Rick and Mike will work together on the transition at this Capitol Broadcasting station. Rick’s been ND here since 2005.

We’ll see you Sunday with our full newsletter.

regards,

Rick Gevers

**** ***** ****

Greetings:

For the second consecutive week, we have TWO new news directors to tell you about. But this week there are TWO new openings.

That leaves 31 stations with ND openings. At least ONE…and possibly TWO of the larger market jobs will be filled this week.

If you like politics, check out our ONE paid ad for an EP job for a political program in Washington.

We have TWO obituaries for former news directors.

After 50 years with ABC, CHERYL FAIR will retire in March as GM for KABC-TV in Los Angeles, where she had earlier been the news director. And there’s another new station manager at a Scripps station.

In Names in the News, a the executive chairman of Sinclair, DAVID SMITH, buys the daily newspaper in Baltimore and you’ll want to read about his first meeting with the staff.

We also have a request for assistance with a research project. Details just below. And we’ll tell you about an IRE webinar I’m moderating later this week on investigating recycling, both curbside AND plastic bags.

All that and more below.

Can you help with a research project?:

Arizona State media scholar and doctoral candidate Kris Vera-Phillips is conducting a research study to understand the experiences of American broadcast journalists of color and their definitions of fairness. She invites BIPOC broadcast journalists to participate in the study, which will involve at least one interview of approximately 60-90 minutes in duration.

The interviews will be conducted either in person or virtually using a platform such as Zoom. The audio and video tracks of the interview will be recorded for analysis.

During this interview, we would like to discuss journalists’ definitions of fairness in news media and in their newsrooms. For all participants in this study, we will keep participants’ names and other personally identifiable details confidential.

The study will provide gift cards to eligible participants who complete an interview. If you are interested, please fill out our screen survey. Contact Kris at kvp@asu.edu for more information.

Newly Named News Directors:

Simon

KLKN-TV, Lincoln, NE…KATIE SIMON will be the new Executive News Director for this Standard Media owned ABC affiliate. STEFFANI NOLTE will remain as the ND. Katie most recently was a Senior Producer for Sinclair’s National Desk in Washington, but has extensive experience at a number of local stations, as you will learn when you check out Katie’s Linkedin page.

Turner

Delta News, Greenville, MS…we are unacceptably late in reporting that DENNIS TURNER has been the news director since last April. (Thanks to a reader for the tip.) Dennis earlier covered the region for more than 23 years for a Memphis station as you’ll learn in his station biography. This is an Imagicomm owned operation which is affiliated with all four major broadcast networks.

New News Director Openings:

Gamboa

KYTX-TV, Tyler TX…MATEO GAMBOA is returning to Dallas and leaving this Tegna owned CBS station where he’s been ND since late 2021. He’s going to CBS’s KTVT-TV where he’ll be the Assistant ND. CLARIFICATION 1/25/24: Mateo will be the AND of Mornings. GINGER MADDON remains AND of days and evenings at KTVT. KYTX GM ELLIOTT MOORE shared details in this note to the staff. Before moving to Tyler, Mateo was a senior producer for WFAA-TV in Dallas and has also worked for KXAS-TV there.

Matt M.

KBJR-TV, Duluth, MN…this Gray TV owned NBC/ABC operation has a news director opening. My records show MATT McCONICO had been the ND there for not quite two years. Matt’s a former ND in Harrisburg, Rockford, IL, and Reno, NV, and has also worked in Eau Claire, WI, Ft. Myers, and Green Bay.

Media Briefing: Renewable energy and the grid

Wednesday, January 24^th (2-3 p.m. ET) on Zoom

Americans are increasingly making the transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources, with solar and wind leading the charge. SciLine’s next media briefing will summarize progress towards U.S. renewable energy goals and address hurdles that remain for communities—including technical and economic challenges that local governments and utilities must overcome to integrate new solar and wind sources into the grid, and ways that everyday life may change for individuals in a renewable future. Three panelists will make short presentations and then take questions on the record. SciLine Director Rick Weiss will moderate the briefing.

Panelists:

Dr. Melissa Lott, Columbia University
Dr. Sarah Kurtz, University of California, Merced
Dr. Erin Baker, University of Massachusetts Amherst

REGISTER NOW

More from SciLine:

FREE training opportunities:

Jan. 29: Stats essentials for math-averse reporters
Feb. 6: Science essentials for local reporters

Interview an expert:

Feb. 29: Veterinary staffing shortages (Dr. Laura Molgaard – U. of Minnesota)

Paid Help Wanted Ad:

Executive Producer for ‘Rising’, The Hill, Washington, DC:

Wish your career was on the RISE? Love politics? Wish you were in DC to cover all the action? OK- check this out:

The Hill has an immediate opening for an Executive Producer for Rising.

Rising is a daily digital opinion program. It is primarily distributed on YouTube and The Hill TV FAST streaming channel.

Cover the future of politics for the digital media juggernaut – The Hill- and become a part of the largest TV ownership group in the nation- Nexstar Media Group.

Check out who we are looking for and apply here: