May 31, 2026
Greetings:
For a short week, this is a long newsletter with lots of news.
THREE new news directors were named again this week, with TWO openings.
Our count of ND openings stands at 25.
We have FOUR ads this week, TWO of them new, and ONE for a terrific opportunity in Washington, DC. We also have ads for these positions:
- A news director job at a legacy midwest station.
- The GM job at the University of Missouri’s KOMU-TV.
- Director of News and Public Affairs at Arizona’s PBS
And BARRY NASH and TIM HELLER, who have supported our efforts for years, are back with ads. Please check them out below.
There are THREE obituaries, including ONE for a former San Francisco ND and ONE for a 20 year ABC News producer with an unusual distinction.
But wait! There’s more!
- Big changes at 60 Minutes and the network is talking a lot of fire for several different moves, including telling is morning ‘newscast’ to ignore news about the network.
- A new CEO at Tegna and several upper management departures as the company await a court ruling on the proposed Nexstar acquisition.
- It’s awards week, apparently, with both RTDNA and NATAS revealing winners.
- And Sinclair names a new GM in Iowa.
See you next week!
Newly Named News Directors:
Olsen
WCIA-TV, Champaign, IL…veteran news director ERIC OLSEN is moving here to be closer to family, leaving another Nexstar station, WHBF-TV in Rock Island, IL. He’s a former ND in Norfolk and New Bern, NC, and has worked in Greensboro, Boston, Toledo, Louisville, Dayton, and Peoria, and began as a photographer in Decatur. Eric replaces new mom MAGGIE GRINESTAFF who left last month to spend more time with her two kids.
Wagner
KHGI, KPTM, KFXL-TV, Lincoln, Hastings, Kearney, NE…CHRISTIAN WAGNER is being promoted to ND for these stations, owned by Sinclair and branded as NTV Nebraska. General Manager JOHN HANNON passed along this note with more about Christian’s background and his new role. He’s been the Assistant News Director here since 2017. He replaces ANDREW DONLEY who spent 3+ years as ND here.
Ducre
WXXV-TV, Gulfport, MS…CASEY DUCRE has been promoted to ND for this Morris Multimedia operation: FOX, NBC, CW, and MyNetwork. She’s a 12 year veteran here, starting as a production assistant, then director, then production supervisor. My records show RICK BOONE left here in early 2025 after a restructuring. I reached out to Casey, asking if there was someone in between, but have not heard back.
New News Director Openings:
Williams
KAKE-TV, Wichita, KS…DAVID WILLIAMS is leaving this Lockwood Broadcasting owned ABC affiliate for family reasons. He will leave later this summer after five years as ND here. Earlier David was the ND for Lockwood’s WFXG-TV in Augusta, GA, was an ND in Lubbock and Lake Charles, and worked in Montgomery and Huntsville. Learn more about this opportunity in the Paid Help Wanted ad below.
WHBF-TV, Rock Island, IL…you learned above that ERIC OLSEN is leaving this Nexstar station to be closer to family as the new ND for Nexstar’s WCIA-TV in Champaign, IL. He’s been at WHBF for five years.
Help Wanted Ads:
Market President, Hubbard DC, Washington, DC:
Hubbard DC, which includes WTOP, Federal News Network and 2060 Digital, is committed to reporting relevant news for the DC region. Through continuously evolving brands, we connect consumers with advertisers across a growing number of distribution platforms including radio, podcasts, social media, and websites. We do this with a commitment to our community…while growing our people and profits.
Hubbard DC is looking for a new Market President to take the reigns after the incumbent retires later this year after over 30 years with the station group. We are looking for someone who can:
- Lead the market as its senior executive
- Champion uncompromising news integrity and public trust
- Lead a high‑performing executive team
- Own the market’s strategic plan
- Drive sustained revenue and profitability
- Maintain full P&L and financial management responsibility
- Oversee integrated market operations
- Ensure regulatory compliance and risk management
- Serve as the senior market representative
This highly compensated role has a salary range of $300,000 to $600,000 plus bonuses based upon experience. To see the full job description including qualifications and to apply for this unique opportunity, please follow this link:
To learn more about Hubbard Broadcasting, please follow this link:
News Director, KAKE-TV, Wichita, KS:
KAKE and KAKE.com, Wichita’s legacy ABC affiliate, has an immediate opening for a News Director to lead a dedicated team of journalists and photojournalists in one of America’s most livable cities. Our current News Director is relocating this summer, creating this rare opportunity with a family-owned broadcast company.
KAKE produces 40+ hours of local television news each week and embraces a screen-agnostic approach to coverage through our website, two mobile apps, streaming video channels, broadcast television stations, and social media platforms and, as a result, enjoys a leadership position in the market with digital audience engagement.
The successful candidate will have a proven track record of audience growth and will understand how to best utilize our social media and digital platforms to that end.
We are committed to excellence in journalism. The primary responsibility of the News Director is to oversee all aspects of our news operation and ensure all KAKE journalists are timely, accurate, and unbiased in their reporting on all platforms. We seek someone who shares that expectation of excellence and can demonstrate their ability to lead strong teams.
You’ll lead efforts to build, train, inspire and retain a top-notch staff of diverse, competitive, driven high-performers. You’ll need to be aggressive in adjusting resources to meet the demand of a shifting local news marketplace.
Interested candidates can apply to:
Mark Kurtz
Corporate Director of News
Lockwood Broadcast Group
mkurtz@lockwoodbroadcast.com
No telephone calls please
General Manager, KOMU-TV, Columbia, MO:
Director of News and Public Affairs, Arizona PBS:
Arizona PBS is expanding its news and public affairs content offering to better serve the fast-growing Phoenix and greater Arizona markets.
To do that, we’re looking for an experienced, strategic, and innovative Director of News and Public Affairs to lead our newsroom and public affairs content efforts across broadcast, digital, and emerging platforms.
The ideal candidate is a mission-driven newsroom leader who understands the evolving role of journalism, particularly that played by non-profit newsrooms and public media.
This is not a “business-as-usual” news leadership role. Our ideal hire must be an exceptional journalist, collaborative leader, and forward-thinking media professional who can guide teams through an evolving media landscape while maintaining the highest standards of editorial integrity.
The Director of News and Public Affairs will work closely with the Senior Director of Content to define and execute a strong editorial vision while leading a team of reporters, producers, editors, hosts, and student workers/interns.
Key priorities include growing digital news audiences, working with the Senior Director of Content to develop platform-specific content strategies, as well as collaboration and innovation with other non-profit news providers in Arizona.
Click here to apply at this link below before June 6.
News Management Openings:
ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:
WFAA-TV, Dallas, TX (listed 5/25/26)
KGW-TV, Portland, OR (listed 5/25/26)
WCNC-TV, Charlotte, NC listed 5/25/26)
WVTM-TV, Birmingham, AL (relisted 5/17/26)
WMBD-TV, Peoria, IL (relisted 5/25/26)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:
WPIX-TV, New York, NY (Digital EP, listed 5/10/26)
WPHL-TV, Philadelphia, PA (Digital Content EP, listed 4/26/26)
KHOU-TV, Houston, TX (relisted 5/17/26)
WMUR-TV, Manchester, NH (Boston market) (listed 5/17/26)
KRON-TV, San Francisco, CA (listed 4/12/26)
WFTS-TV, Tampa, FL (listed 4/19/26)
KXTV, Sacramento, CA (relisted 5/17/26)
KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO (relisted 5/17/26)
KSTU-TV, Salt Lake City, UT (listed 4/19/26)
WBAL-TV, Baltimore, MD (listed 5/17/26)
WCPO-TV, Cincinnati, OH (relisted 4/19/26)
WPBF-TV, W. Palm Beach, FL (listed 5/17/26)
WVEC-TV, Norfolk, VA (relisted 5/17/26)
KOCO-TV, Oklahoma City, OK (listed 5/17/26)
WWL-TV, New Orleans, LA (relisted 5/17/26)
WBBH-TV, Ft. Myers, FL (listed 5/17/26)
WGRZ-TV, Buffalo, NY (relisted 5/17/26)
KTHV-TV, Little Rock, AR (relisted 5/17/26)
KARK/KLRT-TV, Little Rock, AR (Morning EP, relisted 3/29/26)
KJRH-TV, Tulsa, OK (listed 4/19/26)
KCCI-TV, Des Moines, IA (listed 5/17/26)
WBTW-TV, Myrtle Beach, SC (Digital EP, listed 5/25/26)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (relisted 5/17/26)
KBMT-TV, Beaumont, TX (relisted 5/17/26)
WETM-TV, Elmira, NY (Digital EP, listed 5/2/26)
Other News Management Openings:
Listed 5/25/26:
KOMU-TV, Columbia, MO (General Manager, see ad above!)
Arizona PBS, Phoenix, AZ (Dir. of News & Public Affairs, see ad above!)
Listed 5/3/26:
WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC (Senior Producer, Nighttime Newscast)
WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC (Newscast Producer)
Relisted 4/19/26:
KMGH-TV, Denver, CO (Digital Director)
KXAN-TV, Austin, TX (Digital Director)
Listed 4/12/26:
University of Oklahoma, Norman, OK (GM of Student Broadcast Media and Instructor)
Obituaries:
Ramsey
DOUG RAMSEY, a one time news director and anchor, Senior VP of FACS, and an author who wrote widely about jazz (in addition to be a trumpeter himself) died May 19th at the age of 91. Doug had a long career in TV, working as a news director in San Francisco, New Orleans, and San Antonio. He also anchored in New York and several other large markets. His obituary has more about his life, and his very detailed Linkedin page tells all.
Kraus
KEVIN KRAUS, who spent more than 20 years as a producer for ABC News before retiring in 2023, died yesterday at the age of 66. He also worked for stations in Chicago, and for two stations in Miami. You’ll learn in his obituary that he was one of the world’s longest survivors of HIV/AIDS. He is survived by his husband, SCOTT STACHOWIAK, who also worked for ABC and CNN before moving into media relations.
LAWRENCE SMITH, a one-time news director for WCTV in Tallahassee, FL, died May 26th. He was 88 years old.
Names in the News (and other stuff):
Here’s the latest in what appears to be our new segment, “This Week in CBS”.
The company named a new EP for 60 Minutes, NICK BILTON. Like Editor-in-Chief BARI WEISS, he has no prior television experience. (If my parents were alive, they’d be asking why they sent me to college.)
Bilton’s hire meant the end of a 30 year 60 Minutes career for EP TANYA SIMON. Also shown the door, correspondents SHARON ALFONSI and CECELIA VEGA. More from Mediaite.
Alfonsi and Vega did not go quietly.
Even a high school student who was awarded a scholarship named for former 60 Minutes icon MIKE WALLACE opened fire with both barrels.
And the network has garnered negative publicity for ordering CBS Mornings to ignore STEPHEN COLBERT’s last show in its broadcast the morning after the finale. Thin skinned CBS brass were apparently unhappy with a ‘cold open’ Colbert did earlier, poking fun at CBS News’ failure to get anchor TONY DUKOUPIL a visa to China for the President’s summit there.
Miss that segment? Here it is.
It was a big week for award announcements.
NATAS handed out the National News and Documentary EMMYs. Here’s the full list. Please note TWO local stations were honored, Gray’s KMOV-TV in St. Louis and Hearst’s WDSU-TV in New Orleans. You have to go through 17 pages of national winners, to the very end of the list, to find the two local winners.
And RTDNA announced the winners of Regional EDWARD R. MURROW awards. The Regional winners now become eligible for national Murrow awards to be announced in August, with winners recognized at a gala in New York October 12th.
Labbe
Old friend (make that friend of long-standing) BLAISE LABBE is recovering from surgery that makes me shudder just reading about it. Many of you know Blaise, who’s a Group News Director for Sinclair Broadcasting. He’s been dealing with some back issues and underwent not one but two major surgeries. He detailed his situation in this note. You could return the favor with a kind note via email to Blaise.
Adams
STEPHEN ADAMS has left Tegna after more than ten years in a variety of roles. Most recently he was a Talent Acquisition Partner and Co-Lead of the company’s producer in residence and internship programs. He’s taking a job out of television with a company working on AI marketing. Stephen sent me this note outlining his new role and recapping his experiences at Tegna.
ANDREW EPPERSON has been promoted to Assistant ND for Nexstar’s WGMB/WVLA-TV in Baton Rouge, LA.
General Manager News and Notes:
Paolini
We told you earlier this week that PATRICK PAOLINI has left FOX to become CEO of Tegna. Here’s the news release from Tegna. Of note: it’s the first news release posted to its website in almost three months as the company is essentially in limbo while the courts decide the future of the attempted Nexstar acquisition. And this story from Deadline.com offers a little perspective.
Roark
The announcement of Paolini’s hire came just one day before another change in the Tegna executive ranks. Former ND and GM ADRIENNE ROARK, who’s been the Senior VP and Chief Content Officer for Tegna for the last 15 months of so, announced she’s leaving the company, putting the news in this Linkedin post. Also leaving: the CFO, the Chief Strategy Office, and the Chief Experience Officer.
Sinclair named KEVIN BEARD General Manager of KGAN/KFXA-TV in Cedar Rapids, IA,
Our List of Open News Director Jobs:
Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, May 31, 2026:
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
WPVI-TV 4100 City Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19131
KIRO-TV 2807 Third Avenue Seattle, WA 98121
KMGH-TV 2323 Delgany St, Denver, CO 80203
KSDK-TV 1001 Highlands Plaza Dr. St. Louis, MO 63110
WKRN-TV 441 Murfreesboro Pike Nashville, TN 37210
WBFF-TV 2000 W 41st St Baltimore, MD 21211
KOKH/KOCB-TV 1228 E. Wilshire Blvd. Oklahoma City, OK 73111
WAVE-TV 725 S. Floyd St. Louisville KY 40203
WLKY-TV 1918 Mellwood Ave. Louisville, KY 40206
WGNO-TV 1 Galleria Blvd, Suite 850 Metairie LA 70001
KOKI-TV 2625 S Memorial Dr, Tulsa, OK 74129
KREM-TV 4103 S Regal St Spokane WA 99223
KAKE-TV 1500 N. West St. Wichita, KS 67203 (see ad above!)
KLEW-TV 2626 17th St, Lewiston, ID 83501
KNVO-TV, 801 North Jackson Rd., McAllen TX 78501 **
KCEN-TV 215 N. 3rd Street Temple, TX 76501
KKTV 3100 N Nevada Ave, Ste B, Colorado Springs, CO 80907
WSIL-TV 1416 Country Aire Drive Carterville, IL 62918
WHBF-TV 231 18th St. Rock Island, IL 61201
KNDU-TV 3312 W. Kennewick Ave. Kennewick, WA 99336
WCBI-TV 201 5th Street South Columbus, MS 39701
KRIS-TV 301 Artesian Street Corpus Christi, TX 78401
KBMT-TV 525 Interstate 10 South, Beaumont, TX 77701
KIFI-TV 1915 N Yellowstone Hwy Idaho Falls, ID 83401
KAVU-TV. 3808 N Navarro St. Victoria, TX 77901
**: Spanish language station