Gray Opens Washington, D.C. News Bureau

Gray Television has launched a news bureau in Washington, D.C., “to better serve the communities in which its television stations operate” by providing highly localized coverage and analysis of issues in front of the federal government. To lead the new bureau, Gray has tapped veteran journalist Jacqueline Policastro. She has previously worked at Associated Press Television in Washington, and has extensive experience as a reporter and anchor in Indianapolis and Erie, Pa. Policastro created a D.C. bureau for Lilly Broadcasting, and today the Gray and Lilly bureaus collaborate daily to leverage their resources.

Gray’s Washington News Bureau provides breaking news, interviews and investigative specials focusing on federal issues, events and people that are directly impacting the communities of each Gray Television station. Gray said its reporters will “drill down and localize national and international news in ways that only local reporters present in Washington can provide. As a result, the Bureau enables local communities to interact more directly and intimately than ever before with their senators, representatives and administration officials and allows those policy makers to interact with their constituents back home.”

Gray’s CEO Hilton Howell said: “All politics is local, even when it takes place in Washington, D.C. The Washington News Bureau extends our commitment to serving our communities by empowering a great team of TV professionals and partners to deliver the best and most in- depth coverage of the local impacts of federal policy.”

Kevin Latek, Gray’s Senior Vice President of Business Affairs, added: “Through our Washington News Bureau, Gray’s news operations in 44 local markets are able to call upon a professional team of reporters who combine their talents and Washington contacts with personal experience working under the unique challenges and pressures of local television news operations.”

To lead the new bureau, Gray has tapped veteran journalist Jacqueline Policastro. She has previously worked at Associated Press Television in Washington, and has extensive experience as a reporter and anchor in Indianapolis and Erie, Pa. Policastro created a D.C. bureau for Lilly Broadcasting, and today the Gray and Lilly bureaus collaborate daily to leverage their resources.

Commenting on the new bureau, Policastro said: “It is thrilling to have the opportunity to be part of the ever growing wave of high-quality, hyper-localized news coverage that is redefining our industry. No matter where you live, what happens in Washington, D.C., impacts your life. Gray’s viewers across the country will now have more and better access to news and analysis on how the actions of Congress and the White House will affect them, while our elected leaders will have a new way to communicate with those they serve.”

As part of its coverage of the President’s State of the Union Address on Jan. 20, Gray stations delivered more than two-dozen lawmaker interviews and custom news stories to the company’s stations.

Gray’s Washington News Bureau is located inside the NBC News Capitol Hill Bureau at 400 N. Capitol Street, with additional dedicated newsgathering resources in the Senate Radio/TV Gallery.