CINCINNATI—The E.W. Scripps Company has announced a new Local Media leadership structure. The company said the changes are part of a wider effort to transform its business and operations to reflect consumer media habits and the way audiences watch, discover and rely on news.
The announcement regarding the regional leadership structure of Local Media division follows other notable recent changes at Scripps’ stations, including expanded 24/7 streaming news and the use of technology, including AI and automation, to modernize technical production workflows for both streaming and linear news.
“Local television is changing, and the way we operate local stations has to change with it,” Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson said. “Through this transformation, we are rethinking outdated operating models built for a different era while creating a more technology-forward media company to sustain local journalism and bring more consistency, scale and support across our markets.”
Under the new structure, Scripps’ Local Media will be organized into 11 regions, each led by a regional general manager responsible for between two and four markets in most regions. Every Scripps market will continue to have a local news operation led by the station’s news director, allowing news decisions to remain with the journalists and newsroom leaders closest to the communities they serve.
As part of the Local Media leadership structure changes, 27 roles across Scripps’ local market and sales leadership are being eliminated.
“This regional structure aligns leadership to the two areas where focused local execution matters most: journalism and revenue. Both are essential to sustaining our mission,” Symson said. “The decisions we are making through this transformation are about building an operating model that will support our commitment to strong local journalism well into the future. Scripps is transforming from a collection of individual stations into a more integrated local media company, with strong news and sales leaders in our markets supported by scale, technology and regional leadership.”
The regional general managers will report to Anita Helt and Joe Poss, vice presidents of Local Media, and Lyn Plantinga, senior vice president of Local Media. The regional general managers and their markets include:
- Teresa Morgan, Southeast region: Nashville, Tampa
- Kathleen Choal, Colorado region: Colorado Springs, Denver, Grand Junction
- Whitney Grover, Midwest region: Kansas City, Omaha, Tulsa
- Justin Hartley, Montana region: Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena, Missoula
- Mike Murri, Great Lakes region: Detroit, Grand Rapids, Green Bay, Milwaukee
- Stephen Hayes, Mid-Atlantic region: Baltimore, Lexington, Norfolk, Richmond
- Merri Hanson, Mountain West region: Boise, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Twin Falls
- Bill Siegel, Florida region: Miami, Tallahassee, West Palm Beach
- John Cook, Southwest region: Corpus Christi, Phoenix, Tucson, Waco
- Lisa Moore, California region: Bakersfield, San Diego, San Luis Obispo
- An additional regional general manager will be appointed to lead the Northeast region, which includes Scripps’ Buffalo, Cincinnati and Cleveland markets.
