WNDU And South Bend Tribune Form News Partnership

Gray Television’s NBC affiliate WNDU South Bend, Ind., and the South Bend Tribune have announced a partnership to enhance local coverage of news, weather and sports.

Beginning Monday, WNDU (16 News Now) and The Tribune will share some content and collaborate on stories and special projects. Journalists from WNDU will share their reporting with the Tribune newsroom. And viewers will see Tribune reporters in newscasts contributing perspective on local stories.

Tribune readers can now get their daily weather forecast from Matt Engelbrecht and WNDU First Alert Weather. And the WNDU Sports Team will now have Tribune veterans Tom Noie and Mike Berardino contributing to local sports coverage — especially Notre Dame sports.

“This partnership is an alliance that will allow WNDU and The Tribune to bring more value to the community,” said WNDU Vice President and General Manger Ron Bartholomew. “In mathematics, one plus one equals two. When you form an alliance like this, one plus one now equals three, because we create a value that’s going to be greater than we would represent separately.”

“Both organizations are deeply rooted in the community, and we’re great at what they do individually,” Tribune Executive Editor Ismail Turay Jr. said. “But with the partnership, we will be stronger together as we continue our legacies of investigations and delivering local news that are important to Michiana residents.”

In addition to sharing content, the two said the partnership “will provide greater opportunities to mentor developing journalists.”

“Both organizations have some long-tenured, experienced personnel that really, really care,” Bartholomew said. “There are just things you can learn that are priceless from working together.”

“Michiana deserves the best in local journalism,” said Bartholomew. “And this partnership speaks to the commitment of WNDU-TV and The South Bend Tribune to serve this community.”