. He is also the author of three books about television, including a biography of pioneer talk show host and producer David Susskind. WTNH produces local shows including Whats Right with Schools, Stretch Your Dollar, and CT Style, which features local businesses that have paid the station to appear. Sanchez is based in McAllen, Texas; Resendiz, in El Paso. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. From a programming perspective, this regional strategy could be an opportunity to fulfill an acute need. But his employment, which began in June and was not revealed to staff for six months, was disturbing, especially to some of the female staffers. The deal also unites two companies that have sought, with mixed results, to present themselves as neutral arbiters in a partisan moment. 5)About half of the 32 outlets have an audience that pretty clearly leans to the left, while seven have audiences that lean conservative. 03/01/23 9:22 AM EST, Article Low ratings are only part of NewsNations problem: The brand is also suffering from internal dissent from new and long-time Nexstar employees who believe NewsNation isnt living up to its promise to deliver straightforward news. These new bureaus are both a service to local residents and a relatively modest investment: the Jefferson City, Missouri, bureau, for example, which opened this year, has a single full-time reporter who can reach some 2.5 million viewers in at least four Missouri markets. Nexstar Media Group's deal to buy Tribune Media Company for $4.1 billion is the latest merger to test Trump administration regulators tasked with overseeing a rapidly consolidating . Much of the reason news companies seek to buy up stations is to increase revenue from retransmission fees: charges to cable and satellite companies for permission to air local content. Nexstar executives declined a request to discuss recent internal moves at NewsNation and issued a statement defending the stations position. Sook seems to have anticipated this; in 2019 he requested, and was denied, a bonus of $41.4 million in future stock options. Some regional broadcasts, such as town halls with lawmakers that run with limited advertising breaks, are a clear public service. It is this experience, as much as geography, that varies across the Nexstar Nation. When it comes to science, they are usually fact-based such as when covering the Coronavirus and climate change. Even so, Nexstar doesnt fit neatly into popular story lines about media barons destroying local journalism. This story is well sourced to local sources of information as well as KTLA TV video. Analysis / Bias To no ones surprise, these false claims were widely discussed and debated on conservative-leaning news channels, including the Fox Business Network, One America News Network and Newsmax. Former ABC News correspondent Adrienne Bankert is joining NewsNation as a morning show anchor. Country: USA The Hill is owned by Nexstar Media Group, the country's largest television station owner, which purchased the publication in 2021. CIS Executive Director Mark Krikorian has spent years attacking immigrants, both documented and undocumented. President Trump is absolutely correct that the election results are in doubt, the lawyer, Jenna Ellis, said on the program, which is pre-recorded and had aired just one episode prior to that evenings show. Nexstar is rolling out new state bureausit now operates news bureaus in twenty state capitalswhich could fill those gaps. We cant find advertisers that want to take advantage of it. Ad revenue for local TV companies has dropped as much as 40 percent since the beginning of the pandemic. Nexstar has also hired lobbyists to exert influence in Congress and at the FCC while simultaneously expanding its DC bureau, where its news staff covers Congress. CHICAGO ( NewsNation Now) NewsNation is ranked as both neutral and most reliable in the January 2021 edition of the Media Bias Chart from Ad Fontes Media, nearly five months after launching live on-air and online nationwide. Nexstar Media Group has a responsibility to avoid spreading misinformation to potentially millions of Americans through this type of sloppy reporting. Whats more, over the last three months, several of NewsNations top editorial executives including the newsrooms leader, Jennifer Lyons, a veteran news director from Nexstars Chicago station, WGN have exited. The two cover an enormous radiusoften driving multiple hours to cover a storyand usually write between two and four pieces a day, mostly related to migration. From the February 16, 2021,edition of WLNS 6 News at 11 PM. 02/28/23 6:43 PM EST, Article Yet on February 16, one syndicated Nexstar piece aired an interview with a representative of CIS with no reference to the organizations extremist views. They have recently gained another digital reporter and a California correspondent. NewsNation was launched by Irving, TX-based Nexstar Media Group as a nonbiased alternative to the opinionated prime-time hosts. Its stock price, which closed Tuesday at $153.97, down 2%, has more than doubled in the last 12 months. In review, NewsNation publishes news broken into categories such as U.S. (broken into subcategories), the Coronavirus, Weather, World, Shows, The Hill, NewsNation Live, and More. Overall, we rate KTLA Least Biased based on neutral straight news reporting without offering opinion pieces. Trump, Pence highlight policy-focused events in D.C, Justice Department probing Trump effort to overturn election, Some mouthwashes could help curb coronavirus, The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). A poll taken in March by RTDNA/Newhouse School at Syracuse University found that 76 percent of local television stations were worried about losing business due to the coronavirus crisis. When I asked Gary Weitman, whether Nexstars political activity presented a potential conflict of interest, he responded, The, Campaign organizers say Facebook boycott will continue, Coping with the inundation of news online, Emergency upon Emergency: How the press reacted to, A Matter of Necessity: Shefali Luthra covers abortion for, Anonymous Woman: Speaking with the press, an abortion fund worker faces an impossible dilemma, Everywhere and Nowhere: Notes from a parachuting national reporter on abortions local stories, Peer to Peer: News you can use, via Google Doc, The Poetics of Posting: A conversation with Mia Sato of, Sources on Sourcing: Six people weigh the risks and benefits of talking with the media, Out of Control: How a search for answers about reproductive health can lead you down a tunnel of misinformation. His coverage of the television industry has appeared in TV Guide, the New York Daily News, the New York Times, Fortune, the Hollywood Reporter, Inside.com and Adweek. Continue with Recommended Cookies. After using airtime on Nexstars TV stations across the country to promote the news service a plan that simply hasnt worked the company has tapped Chicago ad agency Leo Burnett to develop a multimillion-dollar national campaign to promote the channel. When covering politics, they generally stick with the facts, such as this Justice Department probing Trump effort to overturn election. In an email to The Hills staff on Friday, Mr. Finkelstein wrote that The Hill was highly profitable, with profit and revenue increasing at a rate of 50 percent a year. Last week, when Nexstar relaunched WGN America under the NewsNation brand, the news block brought in just 37,000 viewers. Article On paper, Nexstar stations reach 38 percent of American households that own a TV, just below the maximum allowed by market caps designed to prevent monopolies. Using the resources of its local TV news operations, the company launched a prime-time newscast, NewsNation Prime, in September on its cable outlet WGN America a nationally distributed network available in 75 million homes with plans to expand it to a full-time news service. Shine has never been to NewsNation headquarters and is one of several consultants Nexstar uses for the channel. Sanchez is based in McAllen, Texas; Resendiz, in El Paso. Behind the scenes, executives are scrambling to figure out how to draw more viewers into NewsNation: When it launched last year, around 133,000 households tuned in, according to data released by Nielsen. The local television behemoth Nexstar Media Group announced Friday that it had acquired The Hill, a Beltway political news website, for $130 million. , which features local businesses that have paid the station to appear. Revenue is generated through advertising. National news is covered through a combination of the Associated Press, CNN, Los Angeles Times, and other large media outlets. The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 03/01/2023, Daily Source Bias Check: Lozier Institute, The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 02/28/2023, Daily Source Bias Check: Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, The Latest Fact Checks curated by Media Bias Fact Check 02/27/2023. Then, late last year, Nexstar finalized an acquisition of Tribune Media for $7.2 billion, a figure that includes the assumption of Tribunes debt. Funding. A Fox News survey showing former President Trump leading Florida Gov. As the political implications of the coronavirus crisis evolve in the coming weeks and months, in-depth local reporting will only become more urgent. On April 19, the company announced the signing of Adrienne Bankert, a former national correspondent for ABC News. The vast majority of local TV stations nationwide are now owned by one of those big broadcasters. The political news publication, which started as an insiders guide to Washington and greatly expanded its audience after it went digital, fetched a price of $130 million. Tanton-founded groups have been frequently cited by mainstream and local media alike throughout the end of the Trump administration and first days of the Biden administration. NewsNation still runs entertainment programming during the day, likely adding to consumer confusion. Our tools help you to better understand diverse perspectives and reduce harmful, hateful polarization in . WIERNICKI: But the White House says that isnt part of the plan. But even liberals watch Fox. The Nexstar Media Group was founded as the Nexstar Broadcasting Group on June 17, 1996, initially backed by ABRY Partners. Members of the NewsNation staff were also upset upon learning that Bill Shine, a former longtime top executive at conservative-leaning Fox News, was employed by Nexstar. Nexstar also. The staff also reflects a diversity of viewpoints, which they are encouraged to express., From the start, there were suspicions in the TV news industry that NewsNation might have a conservative slant. (In 2019, Sooks compensation was worth $16.4 million, while the median salary of Nexstars thirteen thousand employees was $43,537.). Traffic/Popularity: High Traffic Nexstar, based in Irving, Texas, became the countrys largest local TV operator when it acquired Tribune Media in 2018 in a $4.1 billion deal, gaining 42 television stations and a cable network. Pew's findings aren't an outlier. Nexstar, a public company, became the nation's largest local TV operator in 2018, when it bought Tribune Media, the television arm of the Tribune Company, for $4.1 billion. The founder, chairman, president, and CEO of Nexstar is Perry A. Sook. In other cases, producing news reports and shows that are relevant across an entire state or regionor, less often, the whole Nexstar Nationserves to reduce cost. The executives added that the deal would make Nexstar the fourth largest digital news property in the United States, ahead of Fox, ABC, CBS, The New York Times and BuzzFeed.. The company was founded in 1996 when Perry A. Sook purchased WYOU, a station in Scranton, Pa. A review of hosts indicates that more lean left, such as Dan Abrams and Chris Cuomo, who holds the 8:00-9:00 pm prime time slot. John Thune, Marsha Blackburn, Amy Klobuchar, and Ted Cruz, sit on the Senate subcommittee tasked with overseeing the FCC. The deal sealed the companys dominance over Sinclair, which had tried to purchase Tribune in 2018 but failed to get support from the FCC. Between 2003 and 2014, newspapers lost about a third of their full-time statehouse reporters, a significant loss. Founded in 1947, KTLA is a CW-Affiliated television station located in Los Angeles, California. The ideal figures to hold those officials to account are local journalists familiar with state budgets, local lawmakers, and the unique contours of their communities. He said NewsNation would launch a five-hour morning program later this year and remained committed to having a full lineup of news and talk programming by mid-2023. If Nexstars general mandate to encourage localism does not explicitly incentivize station managers to embrace a muckraking ethos, in other words, its unlikely to happen. One special Nexstar project demonstrates how the company can bring high-caliber local coverage to new audiences. News stories on the website often come from external sources such as the Associated Press, Reuters, The Hill, and other Nexstar affiliates. the Senate subcommittee tasked with overseeing the FCC. Ad-Free Sign up Conservative justices stress price tag of debt relief. Those distinctions, and Nexstars enormous reach across the country, make the company a unique bellwether of whether consolidation can be in the public interest. journalists clear mission. WGN-TV is owned by Nexstar Media Group, which owns over 200 TV stations nationwide. The channel was created in response to the growing demand for ideological diversity in the cable news landscape. Conservative political commentator George Will has been hired as a senior contributor to cable outlet NewsNation's nightly news program starting later this month . This spring, viewership soared while earnings plummeted. A 2020 deep . He went on to a brief stint as communications director for the Trump White House. And whats happening? Washington, Now, without the usual in-person strategiesrallies, events, door-to-door canvassingand with reduced expenses, campaigns may allocate more funds to television. The company has cited data from Ad Fontes Media, a Colorado-based nonpartisan organization that rates the political leanings of media outlets. Funding. According to Open Secrets, Nexstar Media group gave more money to Republicans in the 2018 election cycle (45% to Democrats, 55% to Republicans); however, in 2020, they gave more to Democrats. [5] The sale was completed on September 28 of that year. Nexstar has also hired lobbyists to exert influence in Congress and at the FCC while simultaneously expanding its DC bureau, where its news staff covers Congress. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, Their bread and butter is traffic and weather. Employees say there is no sign of a retreat. A flashpoint occurred on Sept. 22 when NewsNation anchor Joe Donlon had an exclusive sit-down interview with Trump at the White House, a rarity for TV journalists not from his favored outlet, Fox News. Nexstar may well stay the course, or even thrive, but the public will need more than a broadcast of a governors press conference to understand how, why, and at whose behest elected officials are making decisions. about fifteen years ago, a handful of companies including Nexstar, Sinclair, Tegna, and Gray Television competed to buy up independent stations and media companies. After its merger with Tribune, Nexstar will be the largest owner of local broadcast stations in the U.S. Nexstar and the Illinois-based media company already have political activism in common. All rights reserved, except where otherwise noted. In the first case, Biden v. Nebraska, majority of the justices appeared skeptical that Congress gave clear enough authorization for the Biden administration to forgive billions [] 3) The broadcast stations (NBC, CBS, ABC) and online news sites like Yahoo and Google have a more middle-of-the-road audience than other mainstream media outlets. We will see Nexstars dual purposesserving the public and expanding to maximize profitscontinue to be at odds. 3) The broadcast stations (NBC, CBS, ABC) and online news sites like Yahoo and Google have a more middle-of-the-road audience than other mainstream media outlets. Of course, consolidation is in Nexstars interest, too. Over the last decade The Hill has sought to attract readers interested in political news without carving out a partisan editorial voice a challenge at a time of political polarization. 02/16/21 9:54 AM EST, Article Sanchez and Resendiz are able to execute their stories because of their investigative skills and due to an ingrained conception of themselves as accountability journalists. Nexstar corporate officers suggested that its impossible to generalize about the stations or their programming. ICYMI: Campaign organizers say Facebook boycott will continue. These are the most credible media sources. The guiding principle that Nexstar passes down to station managerscommitment to localismis amorphous and lackluster. Then, late last year, Nexstar finalized an acquisition of Tribune Media for $7.2 billion, a figure that includes the assumption of Tribune's debt. The associated website is NewsNationNow.com, which features news from the TV station and supplemental content. Producers and writers with experience at Fox News, CNN and MSNBC came on board earlier this year to work on Donlons new program. Articles and headlines often have minimally loaded language, such as this Trump, Pence highlight policy-focused events in D.C. She is expected to be one of the anchors for a NewsNation morning program. This spring, viewership soared while earnings plummeted. Nexstar Media Group plans to launch a nationwide primetime news show called News Nation over its WGN America cable network tomorrow, a risky move under the best of circumstances let alone. In 2017, Nexstar acquired Media General, which ran local newspapers and television stations, for $4.6 billion. Nielsen data show the network averaged 27,000 viewers in prime time during the month of April, compared with 2.2 million viewers for Fox News, 1.6 million for MSNBC and 1 million for CNN. The company can continue to boast that it serves the public good by keeping local news afloat; in its FCC application to acquire Tribune, Nexstar had argued that the consolidation would result in more airtime for local news and was therefore in the public interest. On March 1, 2021, the channel was relaunched from WGN America into NewsNation, a cable news network named after its flagship news program. In response to the petition, Nexstars and Tribunes attorneys argued that the public interest groups did not have standing to petition, a common legal argument. Donlon, a well-liked local Chicago anchor at WGN before joining NewsNation, was assigned to The Donlon Report, an hourlong show that features talking heads debating hot button issues. AdImpact noted at the time that among the top three candidates or groups doing the most advertising were the liberal A Better Wisconsin Together at $1.9 million, the conservative Fair Courts . Under Tribunes management, the channel attempted an expensive foray into original series programming several years ago, which was a financial disaster for the company. Last week, a lawyer who is known to promote Trumps election conspiracy theory appeared on The Donlon Report where she once again repeated the falsehood. Their stories run on the website and are also aired on Nexstar stations across the border region, from San Diego to Albuquerque to McAllen, thereby reaching larger audiences than stories for a single local paper or TV station would. Live programming is seen as the best route to making the channel more valuable to cable and satellite operators, and the company has said offering news and talk has helped it negotiate higher carriage fees and advertising rates. Their stories run on the website and are also aired on Nexstar stations across the border region, from San Diego to Albuquerque to McAllen, thereby reaching larger audiences than stories for a single local paper or TV station would. This year, Nexstar can also count on election ad spending, which is a key component of nearly every television companys revenue. But as conservative activists gather in suburban . Armed with a team of national reporters and backed by over 100 local newsrooms spread out across the country, Nexstar promised quality broadcast journalism free from opinion or bias, setting aside three hours on its only cable news channel WGN America for NewsNation. News correspondent Adrienne Bankert is joining NewsNation as a morning show anchor bureausit now operates bureaus! Information as well as KTLA TV video much as 40 percent since the beginning of Coronavirus. 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