Reporters Without Borders

In her 14 years as Washington bureau chief for Tribune Broadcasting, Cissy Baker developed an expert nose for news. And
as vice president/news operations she masterfully managed the company’s 23 TV news stations for the past five years.

This experience will serve her well as she expands her reach within the Tribune Company. Baker took charge of all publishing, broadcasting and interactive newsgathering activities as vice president of the Washington news bureau in November 2008.

During a time when the Tribune is looking to rethink its news delivery strategy, Baker is already reducing redundancies and driving efficiency.

“In the past, the Los Angeles Times and the Chicago Tribune may have turned in the same story for their papers. Now, when a reporter turns in a story, it will be for all of the papers,” she says. “It’s reporters without borders.”

Additionally, Baker is making sure her reporters have Flip cameras that enable them to shoot video for the web, better leveraging the organization’s resources.

She recognizes, however, that integrating the company’s media groups will require a little re-education. While her broadcast background gives her a fresh perspective on the company’s publishing operations, she is still getting used to working with print deadlines.

“The stories we’re working on today with the newspapers won’t come out until tomorrow,” Baker says. “In television, the stories we’re working on today get aired tonight. It’s kind of interesting to get reminded we’re going in both directions.”

But ultimately, Baker believes the skills required to cover the news are the same, regardless of the medium.

“As long as you know what a news story is, you can work with the groups that you’re
surrounded by to find out the best way to cover it,” she says. “The skill is just knowing what a news story is.”

Outside the Fire

Barbara Maushard has always loved the comforting buzz of a busy newsroom. As news director at WESH in Orlando, Fla., she relished the “day-to-day news fight” and took joy in helping her team outpace the competition.

But in December 2008, Maushard left the fray and took on a more strategic role as vice president of news at Hearst-Argyle’s corporate headquarters in New York. Since then, her responsibilities have grown nine-fold.

“I’ll be overseeing nine news operations from nine different television stations within our group,” she explains, “hopefully providing some valuable insights with the experiences I’ve had in the various markets I’ve been in.”

While she’ll miss the daily battle for the top story, Maushard is looking forward to the invigorating challenges ahead. Taking a step back to assess big-picture strategy, she’s excited to help shape the way Hearst-Argyle covers the news.

Yet, working with her news teams—all nine of them—will still bring her the biggest thrill. She aims to help her stations succeed by enabling the talented journalists around her to become the best news people they can be.

“Most of the people I know got in this to make a difference,” she says. “To be able to work in this new environment where I hopefully can help others do that on a broader scale is really, really exciting.”

Mastering New Media

Adopting titles  such as “community director” and “new media manager,” traditional news editors are rapidly moving into non-traditional roles. But for Chip Mahaney, former news director at WTVR in Richmond, Va., the shift has meant more than just a title change.

As the newly appointed director of digital content for E.W. Scripps in Cincinnati, Mahaney is excited to help define the new media landscape.

“I’ve spent most of my life in a television newsroom,” Mahaney says. “Now this job that I have is a brand new job. There aren’t many companies that have a job like this. It’s part of an emerging field.”

In directing the website content initiatives for Scripps’ 10 television stations, Mahaney believes his background as a news director will help him make strong editorial and management decisions that will drive the company’s interactive offerings.

 “My job here is not to produce the content,” he says. “It’s to really leverage the assets of our whole organization to produce the content that will draw an audience.”

As news consumers become increasingly particular about delivery formats, ad integration and pricing packages, however, that job is becoming more difficult by the day. But Mahaney has embraced this challenge as an opportunity to help the electronic news media find its footing for the future.

“Being online and being where increasingly more and more of our customers are—that’s exciting,” he says. “It’s great knowing you have a chance to lead this company’s way into the future—and to lead this industry where it’s going to go to survive.”