network news

Hoda Kotb returned to Today on Monday, telling viewers that her extended absence was due to her three-year old daughter’s health issue. “My youngest Hope was in the ICU for a few days, in the hospital for a little more than a week,” Kotb said at the start of the broadcast. “I am so grateful she is home. She is back home. I was waiting for that day to come, and we are watching her closely. I am just so happy.”

There was a morning scramble Tuesday on NBC’s Today, but no cooking segment involved. The morning program had to move fast in replacing one of its co-hosts while on the air after it was discovered that Savannah Guthrie tested positive for COVID-19. Guthrie was forced to abruptly vacate her anchor chair this morning, leaving Sheinelle Jones with the task of handling her flagship morning news show duties.

Nexstar is bringing together two of its prized properties this spring with the debut of a daily The Hill program on NewsNation. Chairman-CEO Perry Sook revealed that the previously discussed series based on the political news outlet, acquired by Nexstar in 2021 for $130 million, will premiere in April and run Monday-Friday.

Emmy-winning journalist Kelley L. Carter has signed a multi-year deal with ABC, elevating the ESPN Andscape senior entertainment reporter to a new role as entertainment reporter for all shows under the ABC and ABC News umbrella, including Good Morning America, GMA3 and ABC News Live.

Original reporting includes individual stories produced by the local news departments and their executive producers of community impact at CBS stations in 14 markets.

Andrew Heyward, a research professor at ASU’s Walter Cronkite School and co-author of a new report, Beyond Objectivity, explains the problems with aiming for “objective” news and what alternate goals newsrooms would do better to pursue. A full transcript of the conversation is included.

The honor is given every year by the Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. King has been with CBS News since 2011. She is the 39th recipient of the award.

Lisa LaFlamme was dismissed after a decades-long TV career, not long after she stopped dyeing her hair, setting off debates across Canada about sexism, ageism and going gray.

Charges against NewsNation reporter Evan Lambert have been dismissed, the Ohio attorney general said Wednesday. Lambert was giving a live report on a news conference about the Ohio train derailment during NewsNation’s Rush Hour when he was told by law enforcement personnel to be quiet because Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was speaking. “While journalists could conceivably be subject to criminal charges for trespassing in some situations, this incident is not one of them,” Attorney General Dave Yost said in a statement. “The reporter was lawfully present at a press conference called by the governor of the state. His conduct was consistent with the purpose of the event and his role as a reporter.”

Yamiche Alcindor, the veteran Washington correspondent who has moderated PBS’s Washington Week since the spring of 2021. is stepping down from the show, according to a memo sent to staffers Monday. Alcindor “has now decided to conclude her tenure with the program as she focuses full-time on her work at NBC and on her forthcoming book,” said Sharon Rockefeller, president and CEO of WETA Washington, the PBS station that produces the program, in a memo. No replacement for Alcindor has been named yet.

With just three days to go before the Kansas City Chiefs square off against the Philadelphia Eagles at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona, the White House has yet to commit to the traditional interview between the President of the United States and the news division of the media company broadcasting the gridiron classic, potentially shunning a conversation that would be seen by one of TV’s biggest audiences.

President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address drew an estimated 27.3 million viewers, a drop of 29% from last year, according to Nielsen measurements of 16 TV networks released Wednesday. That figure is the lowest audience for a SOTU in at least 30 years, according to Nielsen records. Fox News topped coverage with an average of 4.69 million viewers, followed by ABC with 4.4 million, NBC with 3.8 million, CBS with 3.64 million, MSNBC with 3.6 million, CNN with 2.4 million and Fox Broadcasting with 1.66 million.

A NewsNation reporter was arrested Wednesday during a news conference being held by the Ohio governor about a train derailment. Correspondent Evan Lambert was giving a live report during NewsNation’s Rush Hour when he was told by law enforcement personnel at the news conference to be quiet because Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine was speaking. The charges Lambert is facing are disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing.

It’s the latest major labor action to strike a national news organization in recent months as the media industry faces headwinds and cut-backs.

CNN and PBS took home two prizes apiece, headlining Monday’s duPont-Columbia Awards handed out by Columbia Journalism School. CBS Evening News anchor Norah O’Donnell and co-anchor of PBS NewsHour Amna Nawaz hosted the award ceremony, which returned to an in-person event for the first time in three years. Local TV honors went to KXAS Dallas-Fort Worth, WXIA Atlanta, WTVF Nashville, KARE Minneapolis and WBRZ Baton Rouge, La.

The news media has greeted the supposed scandal of Biden’s mishandling of classified documents with breathless glee.

Executives at the Disney news division — and its corporate parent — hoped to cut recent scrutiny by parting ways with Amy Robach and T.J. Holmes, the co-anchors of early-afternoon program GMA3 who also had a romantic relationship despite being married to other people. On Friday, the two sides broke up, so to speak, with ABC News President Kim Godwin telling staffers she hoped their departure would end a period of “distraction” at the home of Good Morning America and World News Tonight. But Godwin and her team are likely to face a period of rebuilding.

T.J. Holmes and Amy Robach are both out at ABC. Sources connected to the network tell TMZ, that after a marathon mediation session Thursday, ABC and the two GMA3 anchors have severed ties, and both will receive payouts per their contracts.

The former Fox Business White House is the Nexstar network’s latest expansion of its Washington bureau.

The video will certainly be graphic. Journalists should be prepared to explain why they chose to show or withhold it.

Bill Owens, executive producer of “60 Minutes,” called Vega a “sensational reporter and storyteller,” in the Thursday announcement. Vega said in the statement that the appointment was a “dream come true.” Vega will start at ratings leader “60 Minutes” in the spring as a correspondent. She has led ABC’s White House coverage since President Joe Biden won the 2020 election. Before that, she was ABC’s senior White House correspondent covering the Trump administration. Also at ABC, Vega was the lead reporter for Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The cost-cutting CBS News boss who clashed with Norah O’Donnell is facing an internal human-resources review over complaints about his sharp-elbowed management style. CBS News co-president Neeraj Khemlani — who was accused of being “rude” and “micromanaging” as he pared jobs and paychecks including those of CBS Evening News anchor O’Donnell — lately has been slapped with a spate of human resources complaints — the latest by an HR executive, sources say.

NBC News and MSNBC were undergoing a round of layoffs on Thursday, although the impact appeared to be less severe than the staff reductions at other media entities. The layoffs were in the double digits, according to a source, out of a workforce of about 3,500. CNN reported that the number was around 75. The staff cuts also were scattered across the divisions, according to the source. No on-air talent was expected to be impacted. This follows the announcement earlier this week of layoffs across the parent company NBCUniversal, numbering in the dozens.

The attorney, who represented actor Johnny Depp in his defamation trial against Amber Heard, has inked a deal as a legal analyst for the news division. Vasquez made her first appearance for NBC on Monday morning, discussing the Idaho college student murders.