Columbia

Heartbreak and Hope after COVID: The Donna Fox Story, is a behind-the-scenes story of a hospital nurse whose husband and dad get Covid 19, are treated together and die within days of each other.

When a homeless Vietnam veteran died alone on the street just blocks away from a shelter, WIS, Gray’s NBC-CW affiliate in Columbia, S.C., started an initiative that provides tangible benefits to local veterans every day.

I follow more than 500 TV stations’ Facebook pages and what I see every day are countless examples of news coverage about the coronavirus. All necessary, all important. But what I want to share are examples of the more practical posts on how to cope with the disruptions, and the measures some are taking to help each other.

Santa, in one continuous 30-second take, stops by the news anchor desk, a dairy farmer endorses a morning weather lady and a punchy political coverage spot are some of the new promos from Boston, Milwaukee, Tampa and other markets around the country.

Jared Stepp, WIS’ creative director, said he likes to do promos that stick out. But when he got the idea to turn the station’s weather team into a video game, he feared he might have gone too far. So for 5 months, he worked on the promo secretly.

KMIZ, the ABC affiliate in Columbia, Mo., took home six first-place honors at the annual MBA convention last weekend in Branson. “It is gratifying to be recognized by our peers but more importantly knowing our newscasts make a positive impact on people’s lives in Mid-Missouri,” said Curtis Hancock, KMIZ’s news director.

The new openings, for a general sales manager and a director of sales, are in San Francisco and Columbia, Mo., respectively.

Lyle Schulze was once general manager of WCTI in New Bern, N.C. He emailed me to comment on how WCTI survived Hurricane Florence.  “They are to all be commended for their perseverance and courage to continue to deliver life-saving information to the viewers of eastern North Carolina.”

When a carload of fake news hecklers recently shut down a news live shot, Lyle Schulze, the general manager of WIS had seen enough and called police. “It’s getting almost to the point of violence. We remind our reporters that you’re a visible target. It is a little scary.” The incident encouraged the station to sound off.