Tampa

“The global pandemic, the focus on racial justice and the intense partisanship of 2020 called on us to work harder and smarter than ever, and today we celebrate a few of the many Scripps employees across the country who rose to the occasion,” says Adam Symson, Scripps’ president.

Now, more than ever before, people are turning to local TV news for information they can trust about the changing conditions in their town, their city, county and state due to the coronavirus. And local TV marketers are responding with messages of hope and optimism, togetherness and kindness. Not the usual themes of local TV news promotion, but maybe the ones we need to hear right now.

The new creative services director for WFLA, Nexstar’s NBC affiliate in Tampa, Fla., is no stranger to the Nexstar Nation. But he’s really new to Tampa. I caught up with Paul Spingola who’s just been on the ground there for three days since starting on Monday. Spingola is making the move to Tampa’s WFLA from another Nexstar station, WTNH, the ABC affiliate in Hartford-New Haven, Conn.

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.

New openings posted to TVNewsCheck’s Media Job Center include openings in sales in Los Angeles; Laredo, Texas; and Tampa from ABC, Fox and Gray.

The Walter Cronkite Awards for Excellence in Television Political Journalism celebrate the indispensable role the free press plays in the health of American democracy.

Fox’s WTVT won first place in the Large Market category in TVNewsCheck’s inaugural Social Media Excellence Awards. Its news director reveals how the station uses the natural beauty of the area to heighten engagement with its users.