coronavirus

“People understand that things aren’t going to look as perfect, but what’s most important is the information,” said WNET New York President Neal Shapiro.

Roughly 28,000 workers at news companies in the U.S. have been laid off, been furloughed or had their pay reduced. Some publications that rely on ads have shut down.

The former CEO thought he was riding into the sunset. Now he’s reasserting control and reimagining Disney as a company with fewer employees and more thermometers.

As veterans of extreme weather coverage and robust remote production, The Weather Channel was ready for the storm the coronavirus brought to the industry. Network President Tom O’Brien says little has been upended by the pandemic, though the channel is now programming more science lessons for families sheltering at home.

The coronavirus will not be the last disaster to rock the United States. In preparing for the next, policymakers must make sure that broadcasting is just as capable and resilient as the internet and wireless networks. To that end, they must mandate that smartphones, so crucial in emergencies, be equipped to receive FM and the new ATSC 3.0 TV signals.

We’re suspending our recently added weekend coverage this week. But don’t panic, we’ll be back as ususal on Monday to keep you up to date during these unusual times.

In a time of pandemic crisis, when we need new voices, new ideas, and more thorough verification of claims, we’re headed to a media world with significantly fewer outlets, fewer fresh faces and fewer media resources.

One month ago, the annual May upfronts week was upended as all the major media companies canceled their presentations en masse and switched to virtual events amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The TV advertising tradition is now in the process of dissolving entirely this year, as most presenters have decided to delay their virtual events for several weeks, or rethink their plans entirely.

The station group will air national and local services on Easter Sunday as the coronavirus pandemic continues to keep peope in their homes.

The XFL is suspending operations effective immediately, a month after the spring football league stopped play due to the coronavirus pandemic. The league, owned by WWE Chairman Vince McMahon, currently has no plans to start up again 2021.

Local broadcasters are coming together across markets, groups and even competitors to inform and reassure viewers during the pandemic.

What does your local audience need to know about COVID-19, and when does it need to know it? Questions of editorial priority are always important. Right now, lives likely depend on making those decisions well. Editorial judgment is crucial. But we should also use data: data on what people search; what people click; and, what people say they want. Here are three powerful tools to help make data-driven decisions about how to allocate finite newsroom reporting resources to be sure you’re providing the information your community needs most.

A tsunami of layoffs, cutbacks, furloughs and closures has washed over newsrooms across the United States over the past month — a time, ironically, when readership and viewership is surging with consumers in search of reliable information about the virus.

Vice President Mike Pence’s office has reversed itself and will now allow two top public health officials to appear on CNN, after earlier blocking the medical professionals from appearing on the network because it has not carried the nightly White House Coronavirus Task Force briefings in their entirety.

Many of the staff at Gray’s New Orleans Fox affiliate faced the reporting challenge of a lifetime 15 years ago when Hurricane Katrina struck. The coronavirus pandemic has compelled them to write a new playbook and yet lean on old comforts like local music. Above, WVUE and Katrina veteran Lee Zurik working from home.

Fred Fourcher: “We encourage advertisers to find ways to continue their media buys to provide critical support to local news outlets at this important time in our history. The ad impressions that local outlets receive through on-air and online are essential to their continued success.”

Empty parking lots, no highlights and three live shows a day: How ESPN’s 40-year-old program is fighting through the coronavirus pandemic.

Vice President Pence’s office says it is blocking members of the White House coronavirus task force from appearing on CNN until the network televises the portion of the daily briefings that includes the VP and other coronavirus task force members.

The commission is allowing stations to preempt educational and informational children’s programming for religious programming without having to reschedule it, but only over the next three weeks.  FCC Chairman Ajit Pai signaled such preemption for religious services would also be a public service.

For the last three decades, CBS’s Jim Nantz has been the voice in living rooms and restaurant bars and anywhere else fans were watching the two biggest sporting events on the Spring calendar — the Final Four and the Masters over a span of nine days. Now he’s home, like everyone else during the global pandemic of COVID-19. Above, Nantz with Phil Mickelson during an awards ceremony on the 18th green of the Pebble Beach Golf Links in 2019.

One doesn’t normally think of local TV news and its marketing as a source of inspiration. But lately, it’s had its moments.

The News Media Alliance, National Association of Broadcasters, National Newspaper Association and America’s Newspapers ask the government to provide critical support to local news media in its next stimulus bill designed to provide relief to businesses impacted by the coronavirus pandemic.

John Camacho, a 21-year company veteran and senior engineer, describes his new social distancing normal as he keeps the CNN Center functioning amid the coronavirus shutdown.