Once a week, The Desk offers a look at some of the positive stories that emerged from the technology, media and telecommunications industries, including reports of community outreach, public service and awards. If you have a good news story you would like to see featured in our weekly roundup (published every Friday), email [email protected] (subject line: “Good News”) — please include your name, business affiliation and location.
Radio & Television
• Sinclair Broadcast Group awarded more than $60,500 in scholarship grants to 15 university students across the country, which the company says will help foster inclusiveness and diversity in the media industry. A full list of scholarship recipients is available by clicking or tapping here.
• Fox News Books will be releasing its latest cookbook in early October. The book, “Cooking with Friends,” will be penned by Carley Shimkus of the weekday program “Fox & Friends First.” The cookbook is available to pre-order now on Amazon, Books a Million and other online bookstores.
• The Radio Hall of Fame announced this year’s inductees, which honor eight individuals who have made beneficial contributions to the radio industry. Among the inductees are SiriusXM’s Pat St. John, announcer Shadoe Stevens and NPR correspondent Nina Totenberg.
Media & Telecom
• ACA Connects announced the recipients of its 2023 Association Awards, which were given to industry leaders who demonstrate exemplary community service. A full list of recipients is available by clicking or tapping here.
• AT&T says it ranked number one in customer reliability among business wireline customers in a recent J.D. Power survey.
• Charter is providing 100,000 full-time employees with tuition-free college opportunities as part of its new Charter Education Benefit. The initiative will allow employees to obtain a degree from one of 30 partner colleges and universities.
• DirecTV donated $27,000 to its preferred philanthropic partner, Ronald McDonald House Charities, as part of its “Goals for Good” campaign. The contribution was made during a two-week Soccer Champions Tour event.
Movers & Shakers
• Tracy Carmony has been promoted to director of newsgathering at the E. W. Scripps Company‘s broadcast and streaming channel Scripps News. She joined Scripps News (then Newsy) in July 2021 after serving for more than a decade at The Weather Channel.
• Jason Clodfelter is leaving Sony Pictures Television to join Legendary Entertainment as its new president of television. Clodfelter worked as a television writer and actor in the 1990s and early 2000s.
• Brian Daugherty has been promoted to the role of general manager at Gray Television‘s WCSC (Channel 5), the CBS affiliate for Charleston, South Carolina. Daughtery succeeds Dan Cates, who retired from the station in 2022.
• Amber Eikel has moved to Fox Corporation‘s duopoly in Seattle, where she will serve as the vice president and general manager of Fox station KCPQ (Channel 13) and KZJO (Channel 22). Eikel previously worked as the news director at Fox-owned KTVU (Channel 2) in the San Francisco market.
• Emily Finn has been promoted to national correspondent at Nexstar Media Group‘s cable news channel NewsNation. She joined NewsNation as a producer in August 2021.
• Jeffrey Goldberg has been named by PBS and WETA (Channel 26) as the new moderator of “Washington Week.” Goldberg serves as the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic.
• Patsy Kelly will co-anchor a block of evening news broadcasts on Nexstar Media Group‘s Florence, South Carolina CBS affiliate WBTW (Channel 13). Kelly currently anchors the 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 4 p.m. newscasts, and will add co-anchor duties at 5 p.m., 5:30 p.m. and 6 p.m. during the week.
• Mel McKay has been promoted to the role of operations manager and content director at two of Alpha Media‘s Northern California radio stations, KKIQ (101.7 FM) and KUIC (95.3 FM). She succeeds Jim Hampton, who retired from Alpha Media after nearly four decades of service.
• Coleen O’Lear has joined Yahoo, where she will serve as the website’s senior director of curation and platforms, focused on Yahoo News in the United States. She previously worked at the Washington Post in a similar curation-focused role.
• Nick Reisman has joined Politico to co-author the New York Playbook. Reisman previously served as the statehouse reporter in Albany for Chater‘s regional news outlet Spectrum News.
• Steven Shaw has joined Nexstar Media Group‘s broadcast duopoly in Fresno, where he will serve as news director for NBC affiliate KSEE (Channel 24) and CBS affiliate KGPE (Channel 47).
• Tony Ziran Tang is joining All3 Media as its vice president of sales in the Asia-Pacific region. He moves to All3 Media from BBC Studios, where he worked as a senior commercial manager and senior producer.
If you would like to see your promotion or career change noted in our weekly recap, email [email protected] (subject line: “Movers & Shakers”). Please include your full name, current and prior job role/employer and a link to your social media profile of choice.
