Journalism

During their broadcasts on Monday, ABC’s World News Tonight and CBS’s Evening News devoted about two minutes each to recounting the latest triumphs and disappointments at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Over on NBC’s Nightly News, however, it was a different story — a much bigger one.

After more than 40 years in the business, WJET-WFXP Erie, Pa., News Director Lou Baxter is stepping down from the day-to-day management of news operations at the ABC and Fox affiliates on Aug. 27.

“Testimonials are your best research audience,” says Kristin Joyal, marketing director for WTLV and WJXX in Jacksonville, Fla. “It doesn’t get more honest or closer to the truth at a time when people demand it.”

The first day of a House investigation into the Jan. 6 uprising at the U.S. Capitol featured emotional testimony from four police officers who defended the Capitol and video clips of violence and mayhem. It was shown live widely, but not uniformly, on several television networks. Cable networks CNN, Fox News Channel and MSNBC carried the hearing, lasting more than three hours, in full. ABC preempted daytime programming to air most of it but not CBS and NBC. Instead of compelling their local stations to carry it, those networks said it was optional.

PBS leads the nominations for the 42nd annual News & Documentary Emmy Awards, as it usually does, this year scoring 52 noms over last year’s 48. Vice News Tonight, which topped all programs with 16 noms in 2020, equaled that number this year but is tied with CBS’s 60 Minutes.

NBCU News Group said it plans to hire 200 people over the next few months as it adds several new hours of live, original programming for NBC News Now, its over-the-top streaming service. NBCU News Group said the additional headcount is on top of more than 70 new hires of late. The expansion plans include doubling the size of the Today newsroom, growing NBC News’ breaking news and beat reporting team, expanding the MSNBC digital footprint and investing in ecommerce initiatives and CNBC Pro.

The new programming  includes WBTS’ Restaurants Remade, a streaming series about New England restaurants’ re-imagining their business models to adapt to challenges brought on by the pandemic; WBTS’ all new live and local lifestyle show The Hub Today, and WNEU’s fundraising special Milagros para Ninos (Miracles for Kids) for station partner Boston Children’s Hospital.

A Locked On NBA Draft 2021 special, co-produced in partnership with Tegna’s WFAA Dallas on Thursday, July 29, and the Monday, Aug. 2, debut of Locked On HBCU, a podcast fully dedicated to HBCU sports and athletes, are the latest additions to the Tegna podcast.

New jobs posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings for an assistant news director, a morning news executive producer, content producers and a general manager.

Some journalists responsible for digital content on Nexstar’s TV stations’ websites got a company-wide nod, thanks to Austin Kellerman, Nexstar’s director of digital content.

NBC made the announcement during its primetime Olympics show Friday. Taylor had been with ESPN since 2014 but her contract expired Tuesday. Her last assignment for the network was Tuesday night at the NBA Finals, where she was the pregame and postgame host for the network’s NBA Countdown show.

Gun violence is an issue that has plagued the United States for years. ABC News hopes its efforts to track the problem across a recent week will shed new light on it. The Disney-backed news outlet is on Sunday launching One Nation Under Fire, a new project in conjunction with news staffers at ABC’s owned stations that hopes to explore the root causes of gun violence by tracking a week of shootings across the U.S. from July 17 to July 24.

Seven lessons for your newsroom from the fast-growing Black News Channel.

Telemundo is moving the Hispanic news veteran from WMEU Boston to lead its Tampa news operations.