It’s an announcement that was planned before the July 8 confirmation that CBS News and Stations parent Paramount Global would be merging with Skydance Media following its acquisition of the Shari Redstone-controlled National Amusements, Inc.
And, it directly impacts the editorial and logistics teams across the properties without resulting in layoffs, RBR+TVBR has confirmed.
In an internal e-mail distributed to all employees Monday morning, Ross Dagan, Executive VP and head of news operations and transformation at CBS News and Stations, and CBS Newspath General Manager and CBS Stations SVP of Operations Joel Goldberg shared that the editorial and logistics teams are being “strengthened” through the creation of “a centralized coverage team to coordinate how we gather the news and best utilize our resources.”
The announcement comes after the recent launch of a virtual Super Desk, and the CBS News and Stations team will work hand-in-hand with their counterparts on the Super Desk, on the CBS News National desk and the assignment desk at CBS Newspath, and the CBS affiliate news service, Dagan and Goldberg said.
They noted that SVP of Newsgathering Terri Stewart “has been integral in designing this new structure,” working with Super Desk Managing Editor Megan Tennyson and Alturo Rhymes, the Executive Producer of Daily News.
To support what Goldberg and Dagan call a “new and unified structure,” three department appointments were made:
- Chris St. Peter has been named to the new role of Director of Editorial/Centralized Coverage Team for CBS News and Stations, as Armando Gonzalez is expanding his position as Director of Technical Operations and Digital News Gathering for CBS News and Stations. Chris will report to Stewart; Armando reports to Stewart and Tennyson.
“Chris and Armando will work closely with Terri, Alturo, the assignment desk, the bureaus, Newspath and our CBS Stations to strategically coordinate our people and resources to further our best-in-class coverage,” Dagan and Goldberg said. “They will also lead the deployment of all field crews and digital journalists across all platforms.”
Gonzalez is also expanding his responsibilities with day-to-day assignment oversight of the Network IBEW field technicians with the exception of crews based in the D.C. bureau.
- Joining the coverage desk is Alesia Powell as Deputy Director of Logistics and Editorial, centralized coverage team for CBS News and Stations, reporting to St. Peter and Gonzalez.
- Mary Helen Campa has been named South Bureau Chief for CBS News, reporting to Stewart. She has led the editorial direction of the Southern bureau. “In this elevated role, like all of our bureau chiefs, Mary Helen will play a key role leading and contributing to coverage across platforms and working with the Super Desk and the centralized coverage team to mobilize our crews,” Dagan and Goldberg said.
“Our colleagues in these roles will enable our newsrooms and field teams to cover stories more quickly and efficiently and streamline our content across shows, streams, and platforms,” Dagan and Goldberg concluded. “We are excited to see it all come together, and there will be more to come as we continue to build upon this new structure.”
