Kate O’Brian, a veteran of ABC News and Al Jazeera America, will assume oversight of all the news operations of E.W. Scripps Inc, including Scripps’ local media stations, Scripps News and Court TV.
This move is expected to bring Scripps’ local and national news into closer alignment on editiorial strategy, and echoes moves that have been put into place at both Paramount Global and Walt Disney Co. in recent months. s.
“Kate O’Brian is a skilled executive and journalist who embodies our responsibility to serve American audiences nationally and locally. This new structure puts oversight for the entire company’s news and editorial strategy under her leadership,” said Adam Symson, president and CEO of Scripps, in a statement. “Scripps will maintain locally run, locally focused newsrooms serving each of our local markets, and at the same time we will coordinate our local and national reporting for the benefit of all our audiences, including for Scripps News’ network.”
O’Brian joined Scripps in 2021 to lead Newsy and Court TV and serve as the architect for Scripps News, merging the company’s local and national news resources into a national news division. Last fall, the network earned its first Emmy award for “Plastic Time Bomb.” . Prior to joining Scripps, she was a longtime ABC news executive who, among many other roles, served as head of affiliate news services and worked closely with 200 local stations. O’Brian also was the first woman to run a 24/7 cable news organization, when she was appointed president at Al Jazeera America.
“Over the past few years, Scripps’ local and national news operations have demonstrated the powerful impact of combining deep community expertise with national context and reach,” O’Brian said. “This structure will allow our local news and Scripps News teams to harness their combined strengths to deliver even more high-impact political reporting, severe weather, breaking news coverage and other stories important to our audiences in any market.”
Christina Hartman, the head of Scripps News, and Ethan Nelson, head of Court TV, will both report to O’Brian. The role of head of local news is currently open, but will also report to O’Brian when it is filled
