Maushard To Speak At NewsTECHForum

Barb Maushard, vice president of news at Hearst Television, has been added to the list of speakers at the NewsTECHForum next month. She will address the challenges that TV stations face in covering live breaking news in a crisis.

Presented by TVNewsCheck and the Sports Video Group (SVG), the NewsTECHForum will feature news management, production and technology professionals discussing the latest developments in ENG acquisition and transmission; how cloud-based workflows are changing the way news is produced and distributed; and how best to prepare for disaster coverage.

Maushard, named a vice president at Hearst in 2008, serves as part of a team supervising news management at the company’s 29 television stations. The group’s WCVB Boston was in the thick of covering one of 2013’s biggest stories — the Boston Marathon bombings.

Set for Dec. 16-17 at the New York Hilton, the NewsTECHForum will gather news, technology and news operations managers to talk about the challenges they face at the intersection of technology and news storytelling. Maushard is scheduled to speak on Tuesday, Dec. 17, at 9:30 a.m.

Fox Television Stations CEO Jack Abernethy is the featured speaker on Monday.

Other confirmed speakers at the event include Mel Olinsky, vice president of broadcast distribution at CBS; Brian Kennedy, executive director of newsgathering operations at ABC; Bowen Dou, project leader of cross-platform news at ESPN; Eric Carvin, social media editor at The Associated Press; Marcy Lefkovitz, director of news production at ABC; Keith Barbaria, director of technology and engineering at WVIT Hartford, Conn.; and Katy Richman, director of social media strategy and social products at X Games and espnW.

“NewsTECHForum is the first conference to bring together front-line managers and executives working every day in news and news-technology,” said Harry A. Jessell, editor and co-founder of TVNewsCheck. “Our goal is to foster excellence in news production.”

NewsTECHForum will be co-located with the SVG Summit, making it possible for attendees at the two conferences to intermingle, added Ken Kerschbaumer, executive director of editorial at SVG. “There is significant crossover between the concerns of a CNN or a BBC with those at an ESPN,” he said. “NewsTECHForum and the Summit can tackle them together.”

The event has attracted sponsorships from JVC, Bitcentral, Volicon, Teradek, Mosart, TVU, Masstech, Vislink, Canon, LiveU, Vislink, AP/ENPS and Boxx TV.