Hearst Names New NDs At WYFF, WAPT

Hearst Television today made two news director appointments following another ND move in the group that was announced last week.

Bruce Barkley becomes news director of Hearst’s NBC affiliate WYFF Greenville, S.C. (DMA 37). Barkley will direct the overall news operations of WYFF, WYFF4.com and the station’s mobile applications. Barkley succeeds Justin Antoniotti, who has moved to Hearst’s WTAE Pittsburgh as news director.

Barkley comes to WYFF from Hearst’s ABC affiliate WAPT Jackson, Miss. (DMA 93), where he has been news director since 2000. During his tenure there, WAPT earned two regional Emmy Awards for Best Newscast and a regional Emmy for Breaking News for coverage of Hurricane Katrina. The station also received eight Associated Press Best Newscast awards and an Edward R. Murrow Award for coverage of the Yazoo City tornado.

Prior to WAPT, Barkley was news director at WOLO Columbia, S.C., and assistant news director at WATE Knoxville, Tenn. His past positions in broadcasting include sports anchor and then main anchor in Tri Cities, Tenn.  He started his career as a general assignment reporter in Greenville, N.C.

Barkley graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., where he captained the baseball team. 

Barkley is being succeeded at WAPT by Ben Hart, who has been WAPT’s assistant news director since 2010. During that time, WAPT earned a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for continuing coverage of the 2010 Yazoo Tornado, two Associated Press Best Newscast awards and an Emmy Award for Best Newscast in the southeast region.

Hart is a graduate of Mississippi State University and worked in radio and TV in the Columbus, Miss., market before joining WAPT for the first time 10 years ago. Hart served as a producer for WAPT news and, according to the station, played a pivotal role in the coverage of Hurricane Katrina.

He then moved to New Orleans as a producer for Hearst’s WDSU and later was promoted to Hearst’s KCRA-KQCW in Sacramento, Calif.