Starting January 2023, The E.W. Scripps Company will rebrand its over the air and streaming app Newsy—and merge it with its local news resources to form a national news division called Scripps News.
The combined operation will serve national audiences and Scripps local stations.
Kate O’Brian will assume the title of executive vice president, Scripps News division— and report to Adam Symson, Scripps president and CEO. She also will continue to oversee Court TV. O’Brian has served as head of news in the Scripps Networks division since April 2021—and was previously svp at ABC News and president of Al Jazeera America.
“In the creation of Scripps News, we are leveraging the company’s collective resources and building upon the equity of the Scripps name and stellar reputation for journalism,” said Symson. “The American people need greater access to free, quality local and national journalism, produced by a company committed to fact-based news and information. Since the company’s inception more than 140 years ago, we have served audiences with the highest ethics and standards of independent journalism. The rebrand, merger of resources and reorganization reflects our company’s longstanding commitment and belief that journalism is central to our mission.”
Scripps News will operate out of headquarters in Atlanta, with bureaus in Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Missoula, Nashville, New York, Phoenix, Seattle, Tampa and Tulsa. The Scripps News Washington Bureau will continue to cover the capital and produce investigative and enterprise stories for all Scripps outlets. Scripps News will also include reporting from its local stations.
Newsy’s programming will be rebranded as Scripps News and will provide Scripps’ local TV stations with national coverage, investigative reporting and news programming.
“Newsy, the Washington Bureau and our Local Media national news desk have produced impactful journalism, from documentaries and specials to investigative enterprise and day-to-day reporting,” O’Brian said. “We will take the best practices and grow our audience through consistently unique and meaningful news coverage.”