WFAA Ups Leslie McCardel To Exec. News Dir.

Tegna ABC affiliate WFAA Dallas (DMA 5) on Thursday promoted Leslie McCardel to executive news director. She succeeds Carolyn Mungo, who was recently promoted from the same role to VP-station manager at WFAA.

McCardel is currently director of content and strategy at the station and she will begin her new duties at the station on Sept. 1.

McCardel is a news veteran who started her career in California before coming to Texas and Tegna’s KHOU in Houston. She joined WFAA in 2006, and quickly advanced into editorial management the following year.

While working as WFAA’s cross-platform content manager in 2015, she decided to leave the station to be a stay-at-home mom. But after the July 7, 2016 police ambush in Downtown Dallas that left five officers dead, McCardel made the decision to return to journalism at WFAA.

In her current role, McCardel has driven a number of late news successes, including managing the news department’s signature WFAA Originals storytelling brand.

She is also responsible for executing an in-house innovation lab that is now a model for all Tegna stations.