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August 13, 2023

Sunday Aug 13, 2023

Greetings:

We have quite a bit of news in this week’s report (which partially explains why it’s being published a little later than normal).

Among that news: FOUR new news directors but we’re only telling you the names of three of them (and we’ll explain why below.) And THREE new openings mean there are still 35 stations looking for a new news director.

ONE of those jobs are featured in a Paid Help Wanted ad below.

There’s no new GM news, and ONE obituary for a titan of Seattle broadcasting.

There’s lots of items in Names in the News: We’ll tell you about a GoFundMe page for a former Colorado news director and her daughters who were injured in an accident last month. A longtime CBS affiliate relations employee is headed off for a new job, a former ND joins CBS as a recruiter, and there are a handful of management moves. We also have links to two important stories about the newspaper business: one is positive, the other not so much.

I know that’s not our normal coverage area but I found them interesting and hope you do, too.

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Newly Named News Directors:

Rosetti

KSNV-TV, Las Vegas, NV….JEFF ROSETTI starts August 21 as the ND for this Sinclair NBC affiliate. Here’s the memo from GM LARRY STRUMWASSER. Jeff most recently spent 3 years as ND for WTHR-TV (NBC) in Indianapolis. His complete career history is here. He replaces STEPHANIE WHEATLEY who left in May after eight years at the station, five as ND. She left for a PR job with Clark County saying she wanted to spend more time with her two sons.

Barber

WVLT-TV, Knoxville, TN…REX BARBER returns to Tennessee as the news director for the Gray TV owned CBS affiliate. He’s spent the last four years as ND for Nexstar’s WTWO-TV (NBC) in Terre Haute, IN. GM PETE VETO shared the news with the staff. Before moving to Indiana, Rex was the Assistant ND for WJHL-TV in Johnson City. At WVLT, he replaces MATT HUMMER who was promoted to ND for Gray’s WAVE-TV (NBC) in Louisville.

WCIA-TV, Champaign, IL…this Nexstar owned CBS affiliate has filled its open news director position but the name has not yet been made public. We’ll pass it along when we can confirm the identity.

KKCO/KJCT-TV, Grand Junction, CO…RUSSELL CROSS  is the new news director for this Gray Television owned operation. Russell most recently worked at CNN in Washington. His background is wide and varied, as you’ll learn from his station biography.

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.

Media Briefings:

Experts available for Zoom interviews:

New expert videos – available for download/use in stories:

New News Director Openings:

Kerri C.

WFOR-TV, Miami, FL…KERRI CAVANAUGH is stepping down as ND for this CBS o-an-o. This story from NextTV.com says she’s been on leave for a personal matter and told the station she’s not coming back. Kerri’s been ND there for about two years, and worked as for Magid for three years. She’s been an ND in Grand Rapids, Indianapolis, and Ft. Lauderdale. Kerri’s LinkedIn page has more. Her departure is presumably at the top of the ‘to-do’ list for incoming GM KIM VOET, the longtime ND for WDIV-TV in Detroit, who starts tomorrow.

WFIE-TV, Evansville, IN…this Gray owned NBC affiliate has begun the search for a news director following the sudden death of JOE SCHLAERTH. Joe died in late June at the age of 62 of an apparent heart issue. He was ND here for eight years and spent most of his career in his native Buffalo

WTWO-TV, Terre Haute, IN…you learned above that REX BARBER is returning to Tennessee as ND for Gray’s WVLT-TV (CBS). He spent five years as ND for this Nexstar owned NBC affiliate.


Paid Help Wanted Ad:

News Director, WBND-TV, South Bend, IN:

ABC57 News seeks a News Director to lead our newsroom as we innovate and grow. We are committed to storytelling, investigating and viewer advocacy. This award winning newsroom requires a hands-on leader who can grow ratings and grow our content on all platforms. Our managers work as a team in a collaborative environment. We seek a dynamic team leader who is comfortable in a fast-paced environment, who brings excellent judgment, high ethical standards and practices, and who has demonstrated success in driving coverage of breaking news and severe weather. If you want to add to your collection of Emmy and Murrow awards, this is the newsroom to lead.

Duties/Responsibilities:
Other duties, as assigned.

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Candidate should be passionate about social media and skilled in using it to complement our broadcast and digital offerings.

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Long Term Disability Insurance
HSA Plan
401k with Company Match
Vacation/PTO/Sick/Paid Holidays
Paid Qualified-FMLA Leave

Learn more by clicking here.

Other News Management Openings:

ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:

WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, MI (listed 7/9/23)
WGHP-TV, Greensboro/High Point, NC (listed 7/30/23)
WATN-TV, Memphis, TN (listed 6/4/23)
WNCT-TV, Greenville, NC (relisted 7/9/23)
WCIA-TV, Champaign, IL (listed 8/13/23)

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER:

WTSP-TV, Tampa/St. Petersburg (AM EP, listed 6/4/23)
KSTP-TV, Minneapolis/St. Paul (listed 7/30/23)
KXTV, Sacramento, CA (AM EP, listed 6/4/23)
WCNC-TV, Charlotte, ND (AM EP, listed 6/4/23)
WNCN-TV, Raleigh, NC (relisted 8/6/23)
WRAL-TV, Raleigh, NC (Nightside EP, listed 7/9/23)
WXIN/WTTV, Indianapolis, IN (relisted 8/6/23)
WKRN-TV, Nashville, TN (listed 8/6/23)
WBNS-TV, Columbus, OH (Special Projects EP, listed 6/4/23)
KVUE-TV, Austin, TX (AM EP, listed 6/4/23)
WXIX-TV Cincinnati, OH (EP, listed 5/29/23)
WOOD-TV, Grand Rapids, MI (listed 7/9/23)
WIVB-TV, Buffalo, NY (listed 8/13/23)
WLEX-TV, Lexington, KY listed 7/2/23)
WLTX-TV, Columbia, SC (AM EP, listed 6/4/23)
WHEC-TV, Rochester, NY (listed 7/30/23)
WCBD-TV, Charleston, SC (listed 6/11/23)
WCIA-TV, Champaign, IL (Digital EP, listed 5/29/23)
KRIS-TV, Corpus Christi, TX (listed 7/2/23)

MANAGING EDITOR:

KGW-TV, Portland, OR (listed 7/23/23)
WINK-TV, Ft. Myers, FL (listed 6/11/23)

More News Management Openings:

Listed 5/7/23:

U. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (Multimedia News Manager)
U. of Florida, Gainesville, FL (Technical News Producer)

Obituary:

ERIC BREMNER, who started at KING-TV in Seattle as a part-time floor director and rose to president of the company that owned the station, died in late July at the age of 86. Please take a few minutes to read his obituary, in which you will learn (among other things) that he graduated from high school at age 15 before going on to a remarkable career in broadcasting.

Names in the News:

Gray

The family of former KKCO-TV (Grand Junction, CO) news director SARAH SCHWABE GRAY has started a GoFundMe page for the family after Sarah and her two daughters were injured in an accident. That accident was in late July. More details in this story from Sarah’s former station, KKTV in Colorado Springs, where she had worked as a morning anchor before moving to Grand Junction. Sarah left KKCO for a PR job in 2022.

Klein

After 27 years at CBS, LARRY KLEIN is leaving a for a new opportunity. He’s been the executive director of affiliate services there. Larry tells me he will be chief marketing officer at Videoship Enterprises, a Canadian company that offers video workflow and distribution systems for broadcasters. Here’s part of the note his boss at CBS, JOEL GOLDBERG, sent to affiliates. You can wish Larry well on his new gig via an email here.

R.W. III

RICHARD WASHINGTON III has a new job. We told you a few weeks ago he was leaving WTIC-TV (Tegna-FOX) in Hartford to be closer to family. Richard will be recruiting for CBS, as he explained in this note to me:

I’ll be recruiting for CBS Stations….everything from producers and digital content producers to executive producers and assistant news directors. Important to note, I’m not recruiting for on-air positions at the moment.

The news director for Univision’s o-and-o in Austin, TX, MARIO LOPEZ, posted on social media that he’d been laid off. Presumably his responsibilities will be assumed by the ND of Univision’s San Antonio station, MOANA RAMIREZ. That’s been the trend at Univision stations.

MARTI GOING has been promoted to Managing Editor for Imagicomm’s KOKI-TV (FOX) in Tulsa. She’s been the director of coverage and content there.

Watts

At KHSL-TV in Chico, CA, anchor and managing editor HAYLEY WATTS has been promoted to Assistant News Director. She’ll continue to anchor for the Allen Media Broadcasting owned CBS affiliate. Proud ND AARON VOGEL shared the news with his staff. Hayley’s a seven year veteran of the station and earlier worked in Parkersburg, WV.

The following stories are not television related, but they are journalism related and I hope you’ll find them as interesting as I did.

CBS’s Sunday Morning aired this story about a month ago. TED KOPPEL looked at an unusual partnership among small newspapers in South Carolina. Some of it is funded by contributions to a community foundation and the result is in-depth reporting the papers would not have been able to do alone.

On the downside: You’ve probably seen this happen in your area: newspapers are shutting down their printing presses and having the papers printed hundreds of miles away, which results in (obviously) ridiculously early deadlines. So Monday’s City Council meeting (or game, or whatever) may not be in the paper until Wednesday. Here’s a nice overview of that unfortunate trend.

General Manager News and Notes:

I don’t think I missed anything but I am not aware of any GM changes this week. If you know otherwise, please let me know.

Our List of Open News Director jobs:

Here’s our list of open ND jobs as of Sunday, August 13, 2023:

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

KCBS-TV 4200 Radford Av. Studio City, CA 91604 (VP/ND for AM news)
KTVU-TV 2 Jack London Sq. Oakland, CA 94607
WXIA-TV One Monroe Place NE Atlanta, GA 30324
WZDC-TV 4001 Nebraska Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20016 **
WDIV-TV 550 W Lafayette Blvd, Detroit, MI 48226
WCCO-TV 90 S. 11th Street Minneapolis, MN 55403
WFOR-TV 8900 NW 18th Terrace Doral, FL 33172
WLTV 9405 NW 41st St, Doral, FL 33178 **
WRAL-TV 2619 Western Boulevard Raleigh NC 27606
WOOD-TV 120 College Ave. SE Grand Rapids, MI 49503
WWMT-TV 590 West Maple St. Kalamazoo, MI 49008
WLNE-TV 10 Orms St. Providence, RI 02904
KFTV 3239 W Ashlan Av. Fresno, CA 93722 **
WRGB-TV 1400 Balltown Rd. Schenectady, NY 12309
WATE-TV 1306 North Broadway Knoxville, TN 37917
WACH-TV 1400 Pickens St. Columbia, SC 29201
WHNT-TV 200 Holmes Avenue Huntsville, AL 35801
KLEW-TV 2626 17th St, Lewiston, ID 83501
WICS-TV 2680 E. Cook St. Springfield, IL 62703
WBND-TV 53550 Generations Drive South Bend, IN 46635 (see ad above!)
WQAD-TV 3003 Park 16th Street Moline, IL 61265
WFIE-TV 1115 Mt. Auburn Road Evansville, IN 47720
KIMA-TV 2801 Terrace Heights Dr. Yakima, WA 98901
KIFI-TV 1915 N. Yellowstone Hwy. Idaho Falls, ID 83401
WTWO-TV 10849 N US Highway 41, Farmersburg, IN 47850
WBUP/WKBP-TV 1705 Ash Street Suite 5 Ishpeming, MI 49849
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
Delta News 837 Washington Ave Greenville, MS 38701
KAEF-TV 540 E Street Eureka, CA 95501
KIEM-TV 5650 S Broadway St Eureka, CA 95503
KYOU-TV 820 West 2nd Street; Ottumwa, IA 52501
KTVH-TV 100 W Lyndale Ave. Ste A. Helena, MT 59601
KNOP-TV 402 S. Dewey. North Platte NE 69101

**: Spanish language station

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