Veronica Placencia Named KERO News Director

KERO, the Bakersfield, Calif., ABC affiliate owned by The E.W. Scripps Co., has promoted Veronica Placencia to news director, effective immediately.

Placencia served most recently as an interim leader of the newsroom, having joined KERO in 2019 as assistant news director. In this role, she launched the station’s equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) committee, which is responsible for engaging employees around Scripps’ EDI initiatives within the newsroom. She also leads the station’s community board, which helps build a foundation of trust between the station and the communities it serves within Kern County.

Placencia has overseen several key election specials, town hall meetings and successfully navigated the newsroom through the pandemic and the protests in Bakersfield following the George Floyd killing.

Prior to joining KERO, the Texas native was the news director at KTSM El Paso, Texas, and assistant news director of KINT there.

“Veronica’s leadership and mentoring skills make her a great fit to lead our newsroom,” said Jim Doty, vice president and general manager at 23ABC. “She has done a terrific job of growing the newsroom and we can’t wait to see where she takes us as our news leader.”