NBC O&Os are doubling down on investigative reporting.
Last month NBC Universal announced that it planned to hire for more than 130 positions across its 10 stations and it appears that a significant number of those hires will be committed to bolstering the stations’ investigative units.
Last week, veteran investigative reporter Tony Kovaleski announced that he was leaving KMGH for a “great opportunity” with NBC’s KNTV in San Francisco. And this week WMAQ in Chicago announced the hiring of Peabody Award winner Katy Smyse, who will be one of two new investigative producers at the station.
“Quite simply, we believe our ability to develop more exclusive and impactful local stories will help us attract more viewers to our newscasts,” WMAQ vice president and general manager Frank Whittaker told Robert Feder.