Tegna Takes On The Coronavirus

As news media companies face myriad challenges in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak — sensitively balancing resourceful information delivery with a duty to keep social panic contained, while also protecting the well-being of their own employees — Tegna appears to be doing its fair share. The organization is going public with what it calls a “Facts Not Fear” approach to coronavirus reporting.

“With 49 newsrooms across the country, each with different levels of exposure to the virus, our news leadership has been focused on responsible reporting and ensuring we are presenting our viewers a calm, common-sense approach that puts the global, national and local situation into perspective,” Tegna said in an emailed statement to TVNewsCheck.

The company added that the “Facts Not Fear” crisis coverage philosophy “involves leading with facts and ensuring our news product across all platforms is focused on providing context and perspective, and is not causing undue concern.”

Tegna-owned NBC affiliate KUSA Denver produced an 80-second video mission statement promising viewers that, throughout its coverage of the coronavirus, its news team will not “play on our fears and yours” by writing click-bait headlines “designed more to frighten than inform.” It also pledged not to “guess or speculate or assume” that the information they distribute publicly is air-tight accurate, but will instead seek out multiple experts and vetted sources who will confirm any facts they present.

St. Louis’s KSDK, another of Tegna’s NBC affiliates, also aired a segment indicating that it, too, will be in lockstep with the company’s “Facts Not Fear” approach. The station even offered up a phone number to which viewers can text questions about the coronavirus and expect KSDK to provide them answers from medical professionals.

“We have communicated to all of our journalists and all of our leaders that this is the time when it’s not about ratings, it’s not about growth,” says Ellen Crooke, Tegna’s VP of news. “The most important thing we can do right now as journalists is not create panic, not create unnecessary stress and worry, which is what news can do right now.”

Instead, Crooke says Tegna will only “offer clear information with … context and perspective so that people can understand exactly what is happening without it seeming bigger than it really is,” while not downplaying the severity of any given situation. She says great attention to detail will be paid toward the types of graphics Tegna stations use, and that producers will allow reporters as much time as they need to ensure they’re presenting correct, contextual facts.

Part of the impetus behind Tegna’s redoubled accurate-reporting efforts and focus on integrity is the belief some people have that watching the news in a time such as this will only help to create more panic and, thus, should be switched off.

“We have to really take a good, hard look at what we do as journalists and say, ‘No. Watch the news so that you can understand [the developments] better and you can have a better sense of context,’ ” Crooke says.

Ellen Crooke, Tegna’s VP of news, says it will offer only “clear information with … context and perspective so that people can understand exactly what is happening without it seeming bigger than it really is.”

Tegna’s group of fact-checking specialists, Verify, which has both national and local-market teams, are zeroing in on coronavirus misinformation spreading throughout the ether, and issuing reports to properly educate the public. Tegna’s KPNX, the NBC affiliate in Phoenix, tackled the rumors about how coronavirus might spread on international airline flights.

As far as protecting its employees from the coronavirus — including all the personnel who must log hours in the field and in closed offices — Crooke says Tegna is taking its cues from the Centers for Disease Control, which has posted on its website a number of procedures businesses can take to limit the pandemic’s spread. She says, as of today, Tegna outposts have not had any coronavirus threats, even in Seattle, the American city with the highest concentration of cases. Still, the local government there has suggested work-from-home arrangements when possible, and the Tegna station there has adhered to the advice.

Viewers are already taking notice of the “Facts Not Fear” initiative, according to Crooke, who says, “The feedback we’re getting has been just such appreciation from our consumers.”

Tegna as a whole is also proud of its heightened dedication to responsible news delivery in this time of emerging crisis. “Our journalists and our news leaders are handling this with such care and such a commitment to help their communities,” Crooke says. “They have a great sense of this is a duty to our country, to do this well and to do this properly.”