From: Peter Liguori
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2013 9:11 AM
Subject: My first month
The first month of my time at Tribune has been marked by some
extraordinary news events—the massive snowstorm on the East coast, the
inauguration of a President and the resignation of a Pope, the manhunt
for Christopher Dorner, and a blackout at the Super Bowl, to name just a
few. Our coverage of these events has been equally extraordinary. I
don’t want that to go unnoticed.
Watching the work of our reporters, photojournalists, producers,
editors, and technicians has been extremely impressive, often inspiring.
As I have traveled around the company the last few weeks, I’ve gotten
the opportunity to see first-hand the power and reach of our media
businesses and, more importantly, the talent and dedication of our
people. The experience has given me a much better understanding of how
we work together across the company and how our media assets complement
each other.
Let me mention a couple of examples.
Throughout the snowstorm, WPIX (New York) and WTIC (Hartford) provided
extensive live coverage, giving viewers the vital information necessary
to enable them to better prepare for what was coming and to navigate the
aftermath. These stations also provided live shots and video under
incredibly harsh conditions to the rest of our station group,
significantly enhancing our coverage of this major story. The storm hit
Connecticut especially hard and the Hartford Courant's coverage online
and in print was excellent.
Last Tuesday, during the stand-off with Christopher Dorner, KTLA (Los
Angeles), KSWB (San Diego), and KTXL (Sacramento) provided continuous
extensive live coverage in their markets. KTLA's live signal was made
available to our television stations and newspapers, many of which
streamed it on their websites. News ratings jumped, and the coverage
drew large numbers of viewers in key demos across multiple time periods
throughout the day, especially at KTLA. As the story unfolded, our
reporters Tweeted updates and made extensive use of social media.
Traffic to the website of the Los Angeles Times more than doubled, to
13.5 million page views. Times' reporters made multiple appearances on
air. The following day, along with its comprehensive editorial coverage
of the Dorner story, the Times featured a KTLA frame-grab on its front
page above the fold.
We have great people and we provide great journalism, content, and
context. It’s also clear that readers, viewers, listeners and digital
users turn to us when news happens, and they benefit from the resources
and talent we devote to news coverage.
I’ve also been struck by the some of the innovative work going on around
the company. The Hartford Courant, for example, is partnering with PBS’
Frontline for a two-part documentary and a series of stories about gun
violence in the wake of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School.
The Baltimore Sun took advantage of the Ravens’ run to the Super Bowl,
offering compelling editorial coverage, special sections and homepage
takeovers for advertisers, and commemorative merchandise like T-shirts,
front-page reprints, and a highlight book for fans.
There is a lot to be proud of across this company; I’m learning that
with each visit I make to one of our business units. Yesterday, I was at
the Baltimore Sun, where I met with Tim Ryan and his team, and held an
employee town hall. Next Monday I’ll be at WPHL in Philadelphia.
Finally, in the next several days we’ll announce a new employee
recognition program, designed to reward people for outstanding work,
innovation and dedication.
As I said, great things are going on at Tribune.
Peter
SOURCE: Kevin Roderick
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