Twenty-six people from 12 different markets drove close to 3,500 miles one-way to attend a news training session at KARK and KLRT, the NBC and Fox affiliates in Little Rock earlier this month. KARK is owned by Nexstar which operates KLRT, owned by Mission Broadcasting, under a shared services agreement. It’s the third annual continuing-education […]
Twenty-six people from 12 different markets drove close to 3,500 miles one-way to attend a news training session at KARK and KLRT, the NBC and Fox affiliates in Little Rock earlier this month.
KARK is owned by Nexstar which operates KLRT, owned by Mission Broadcasting, under a shared services agreement.
It’s the third annual continuing-education session for Nexstar employees, which this year included participants from Nexstar’s new markets, Topeka, Wichita, and Knoxville, following Nexstar’s acquisition of Media General.
Meeting new journalists at #NexstarTD in Little Rock!
Those attending included news anchors, reporters, assignment editors, news producers, digital media producers and one news director.
The annual training day is the brainchild of KARK News Director Austin Kellerman and Jerry Walsh, Nexstar’s director of local content development.
This year’s session featured Kellerman and Ernie Paulson, KARK’s assistant news director, leading the way.
All of the participants were nominated to attend by their respective news directors.
“We sharpened our skills,” said Carly Willis, a reporter from KSNW, the NBC affiliate in Wichita, Kan., one of the new stations in the Nexstar Nation.
Ariana Triggs, a digital producer from Nexstar’s NBC affiliate in Baton Rouge, La., said the sessions developed “better writing, better shooting and editing, basically to expand and reinforce the best journalism practices.”
Brooke Lennington, an anchor from KNST, the NBC affiliate in Topeka, Kan., another new station to Nexstar, said the training day was about how journalists can be better at doing their various jobs.
“I attended with my station’s morning show producer, Brianna Johnson. As an evening anchor, we have very different jobs at work. That was the nice part about the training though, every person who works in the broadcasting business can take away something.”
What is Say It, See It, Move It?
Great example from @KARKMark on lead-in for @AshleyKetz story #NexstarTD pic.twitter.com/wYdzYtTMDo
— Austin Kellerman (@AustinKellerman) April 8, 2017
According to Kellerman, one of the sessions examined a story by Erika Hall, a reporter for KNWA, the NBC affiliate in Fayetteville, Ark.
“We learned multiple different ways we can do our jobs better,” said Lennington, “including how to handle a breaking news scenario, write for the ear not the eye, how to view our job as putting together a show not a newscast because viewers want to be entertained.”
Another session featured a newscast from Wichita’s KSNW, which had been dealing with some major fires, to see how the station showcased and communicated the issue to viewers.
“Leaving the training in Arkansas,” said Lennington, “I couldn’t wait to get back to Topeka and be the best damn evening anchor and newsroom citizen possible. The trick now is to act on all the things we learned, and teach them to our co-workers.”
In addition to the markets mentioned, participants from Nexstar stations in Wichita Falls, Shreveport, Monroe, Memphis, Knoxville, Springfield, Missouri, Tyler, Texas, and Baton Rouge attended.
Nexstar owns and/or operates 171 stations around the country.
Groups working to figure out how to responsibly report and cover a breaking news scenario. #NexstarTD 2017 pic.twitter.com/5vs3ZzmeQk
— Ernie Paulson (@erniepaulson) April 8, 2017
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