August 7, 2009
Tuesday, August 11 UDPATE:
Michaelsen
In a move seen as a surprise by many, longtime Gannett news manager LANE MICHAELSEN is leaving the company (where he is currently VP of the News and Information Center for the company’s Washington, DC, CBS affiliate, WUSA-TV) to become VP/News and Content for WTVJ-TV, the NBC o-and-o in Miami. Lane’s been at WUSA for just under a year, but has served Gannett as a VP/News as well as ND for its stations in Little Rock and Tampa. He began his career as a photojournalist and has been honored many times for his work. At WTVJ, he replaces YVETTE MILEY who was named Executive Editor for MSNBC earlier this year.
Greetings:
We have a handful of new ND hires to tell you about, including one in New York City that was announced Friday afternoon.
That’s one of FOUR new NDs in this week’s report, with ONE new opening, and that in a top ten market.
For the second week in a row, we have a handful of new News Management Openings. Is that a sign that stations are starting to hire again? I don’t know, but it’s a nice sign.
In Names in the News, a new Assistant ND in Cleveland, a PR promotion for a former ND, and an award for a longtime Missouri Journalism School professor.
All that and more after this week’s changes:
NEW NEWS DIRECTOR OPENINGS:
KNTV, San Jose/San Francisco, CA…SUSAN SULLIVAN is leaving this NBC o-and-o to return home as ND for WNBC-TV in New York City. She’s been the VP/News here since November 2007. Much more on this move below.
NEW NEWS DIRECTORS NAMED:
WNBC-TV, New York, NY…as noted above, SUSAN SULLIVAN has been named ND for this NBC o-and-o. She’s currently VP/News for NBC’s KNTV in San Jose/San Francisco. Susan has previously been an ND in New York (WNYW-TV), Washington, DC (WTTG-TV) and Phoenix (KNXV-TV), and has worked at both WCBS-TV and WABC-TV in New York. Susan also has a law degree from Fordham University School of Law in New York. At WNBC, she replaces VICKI BURNS who was named VP of Content & Audience Development for NBC Local Media New York last June after just more than a year as the ND here.
Stanton Tang
WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids, MI…Executive Producer STANTON TANG has been promoted to News and Information Director for this Gannett-owned ABC affiliate. He’s been the EP there since December, 2005, and previously worked in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Sacramento. Stanton replaces TIM GERAGHTY who was promoted earlier this year to be ND for Gannett’s KXTV in Sacramento after almost five years as ND here.
Bob Stoldal
KVBC-TV, Las Vegas, NV…we alerted you to this surprising move in a mid-week emailed UPDATE. BOB STOLDAL, longtime ND of cross-town rival KLAS-TV, has been named Executive Vice President/News for this Sunbelt Communications owned NBC affiliate. He’ll also manage and coordinate the news operations of all the Sunbelt stations. Bob retired as VP/News of KLAS in 2008, ending a long career with that station, which began in 1967. He did spend a few years as ND of sister-Landmark station WTVF-TV in Nashville. Bob’s a native Nevadan and an expert in the history of Las Vegas. He replaces DEBORAH CLAYTON who left KVBC last month after almost two years as ND, and spent many more years than that working at the station.
KTEN-TV, Denison, TX…we told you last week that veteran newsman CRAIG MARRS had been named GM of this NBC affiliate. We didn’t know that he’ll also been assuming the ND duties, at least for now. So we’re removing this from our list of openings. KTEN is owned by Lockwood Broadcast Group.
Also this week, DAN GARCIA’s job as ND of KAUZ-TV in Wichita Falls, TX, was eliminated after the station’s owned signed a joint sales and shared services agrement with the owners of KSWO-TV in Lawton, OK.
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Other News Management Openings:
ASSISTANT NEWS DIRECTOR:
WMUR-TV, Manchester, NH (listed 4/25/09)
WNEM-TV, Saginaw, MI (relisted 6/19/09)
KWWL-TV, Waterloo, IA (listed 7/31/09)
WBRZ-TV, Baton Rouge, LA (new listing this week)
EXECUTIVE NEWS PRODUCER:
KIAH-TV, Houston, TX (PM EP, relisted 6/14/09)
KRIV-TV, Houston, TX (AM EP, new listing this week)
KCPQ-TV, Seattle, WA (PM EP, listed 7/31/09)
Northwest Cable News, Seattle, WA (PM EP, new listing this week)
WESH-TV, Orlando, FL (relisted 5/15/09)
KXTV, Sacramento, CA (Morning EP, relisted 6/19/09)
KSDK-TV, St. Louis, MO (AM EP, listed 7/31/09)
WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids, MI (new listing this week)
WREG-TV, Memphis, TN (listed 7/24/09)
WDBJ-TV, Roanoke, VA (relisted 6/19/09)
WLTX-TV, Columbia, SC (listed 6/14/09)
WPTA/WISE, Ft. Wayne, IN (new listing this week)
KRNV-TV, Reno, NV (listed 5/22/09)
NEWS OPERATIONS MANAGER/PRODUCER:
WPTA/WISE, Ft. Wayne, IN (new listing this week)
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NAMES IN THE NEWS:
Finlayson
Former Chicago, San Francisco/Oakland, and Nashville ND ANDREW FINLAYSON will be a Knight fellow this fall at Stanford. He’s now Director of Online Content for Fox. Andrew tells me that will allow him to get a “sort of mini-MBA in digital entrepreneurship.” The Stanford Knight fellowship is now focusing on the future of journalism and digital innovation. He’d like to hear from any news directors…actually from anyone…who has started their own digital media business, either full or part time. You can share you thoughts with Andrew via email at: Andrew.Finlayson@FOXTV.COM
ROBERTA PETTERSON has been named Assistant ND for WEWS-TV in Cleveland. She most recently had been an EP for WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh and has also worked in Tulsa, OK.
Mike Cavender
Former News Director MIKE CAVENDER has been promoted to VP of Client Solutions for Medialink. Mike’s a former ND in Washington, DC, Atlanta, Tampa, and Nashville, and a past chairman of RTNDA and RTNDF. He joined Medialink three years ago. He’ll continue to be based in Atlanta. You can re-connect with Mike via email at: mcavender@medialink.com
Rod Gelatt
And congratulations to longtime University of Missouri Journalism Professor ROD GELATT who’s been named one of the seven winners of the Missouri Honor Medal for Distinguished Service in Journalism. Rod’s been affiliated with the J-School for more than 45 years and has had a role in training hundreds if not thousands of journalists. Full disclosure: I was a student of Rod’s while at Missouri. You can read more about Rod and the other winners by clicking here. And you can wish Rod well via email at: rgelatt@aol.com
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Here’s a complete list of all stations that I believe have a current ND opening, as of Friday, August 7, 2009. If you know of any updates, corrections, or additions to this list, please let me know via email at: rick@rickgevers.com
KNTV 2450 North First St. San Jose CA 95131
WDIV-TV 550 W. Lafayette Blvd Detroit MI 48231
KXLN-TV 9440 Kirby Dr. Houston TX 77054 ***
WTVJ-TV 15000 SW 27th Ave. Miramar FL 33027
WLWT-TV 1700 Young St. Cincinnati OH 45210
WOOD-TV 120 College SE Grand Rapids MI 49503
KRQE-TV 13 Broadcast Plaza Albuquerque NM 87104
KSEE-TV 5035 E. McKinley Ave. Fresno CA 93727
WKRG-TV 555 Broadcast Dr. Mobile AL 36606
WGBA-TV 1391 North Rd. Green Bay WI 54307
WNWO-TV 300 S. Byrne Rd. Toledo OH 43615
KITV-TV 801 South King St. Honolulu HI 96813
WAND-TV 904 South Side Dr. Decatur IL 62525
WFFF-TV 298 Mountain View Dr. Colchester VT 05446
WLNS-TV 2820 E. Saginaw St. Lansing MI 48912
WNCT-TV 3221 S. Evans St. Greenville NC 27834
WPBN/WTOM-TV 8518 M 72 West Traverse City MI 49684
KBCI-TV 140 N. 16th St. Boise ID 83702
WMGT-TV PO Box 4328 Macon GA 31208
WEAU-TV 1907 S. Hastings Way Eau Claire WI 54701
WECT-TV 322 Shipyard Blvd. Wilmington NC 28412
KTVZ-TV 62990 O.B Riley Rd. Bend OR 97701