News Leaders Focus On Journalist Protection, Stress In Fraught ’24
Top news executives from Tegna, Hearst Television, Spectrum News and The Weather Channel told a NewsTECHForum panel last week that safety, security, mental-health services and higher pay are all top prerogatives in a more dangerous and stressful newsroom environment.
Tegna Snaps Gun Violence Reporting Out Of Its Fog
Collaborating journalists at eight Tegna stations across the country took a deeper look at gun violence to reclaim a signal out of crime reporting’s usual noise. The result, 7 Days, 1,000 Shootings, charts a path to more impactful local journalism on the epidemic.
Reporter Safety A Story That Won’t Go Away
Since attacks on journalists dramatically escalated last year, station groups have tightened safety protocols and veteran reporters are going into potentially volatile environments with escape routes at the ready. Even after 2020’s violent crescendo, journalists must be constantly vigilant against threats that “can happen spontaneously,” says Ruschell Boone, a reporter with NY1.
TVN Executive Session | Tegna: BLM Will Have Lasting Newsroom Impact
Ellen Crooke, Tegna’s VP of news, says the Black Lives Matter movement has promoted greater “intentionality” in the group’s efforts for diversity and inclusion in its news organizations and leadership. She adds that COVID-19 has also supercharged Tegna’s Verify fact-checking project and data visualization efforts.
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to impact people and newsrooms, Tegna has implemented corporate policies to keep reporters, producers and news executives safe.
Tegna Wants Local News Binge Watchers
Ellen Crooke, VP of news at Tegna, says the company is doing a top-to-bottom overhaul of its approach to local news led by next-generation innovators with a digital mindset. The goal is drawing in younger viewers with binge-worthy investigative, episodic digital content that finds broadcast iterations afterwards.
The former WXIA Atlanta news director will now work with Michael Valentine in leading news efforts at Gannett Broadcasting’s 46 stations.