First, it was Dave Lougee, who relinquished his role as President/CEO and as a company director on August 12. Now, the SVP of News at TEGNA has announced that she, too, will be retiring.
It marks the end of a 22-year run at the company formerly known as Gannett Broadcasting who has led TEGNA’s news team since 2014.
Ellen Crooke will step away from broadcasting, and from TEGNA, in January 2025.
“Ellen’s dedication to quality journalism and growing and mentoring our news leaders will have a lasting impact on our team and the news business,” said Lynn Beall, TEGNA’s EVP and COO of Media Operations. “As the leader of our news organization, Ellen has driven our content innovation efforts, launched VERIFY, crafted our Principles of Ethical Journalism and spearheaded the creation of several journalism trainings, including news leadership, storytelling and our Producer-in-Residence program. We thank her for working with us through a transition period and wish her all the best in her next chapter.”
Lougee’s successor, President/CEO Mike Steib, added, “The work that TEGNA’s news and content teams produce every day is second-to-none and that is in no small part a result of Ellen’s leadership. We thank Ellen for her many contributions to TEGNA’s success and for her continued leadership.”
Crooke commented on her time at the company, noting, “Working with TEGNA’s journalists, photojournalists, producers, meteorologists and news leaders has been the honor of a lifetime. It has been my dream job to champion our journalists whose work truly matters. I look forward to continuing to work with the news organization and TEGNA’s leadership team through an important election season before retiring in January.”
Crooke has held news leadership roles at WXIA “11Alive,” TEGNA’s NBC affiliate in Atlanta, and at WGRZ-2, the company’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo that has long-served as a de facto network access point to thousands of viewers in the Greater Toronto Area. During her tenure at these stations, Crooke was also a regional news executive overseeing multiple stations. Earlier in her career, she was News Director for WNDU-TV in South Bend, Ind., and the assistant news director for TEGNA’s WHAS-11 in Louisville, Ky.
Crooke is the recipient of four National Edward R. Murrow Awards, including Overall Excellence, Best Newscast and two Continuing Coverage awards and multiple Southeast Emmy Awards, including Best Overall News Operation and Best Newscast. She served on the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Board of Directors from 2017 to June 2024 and its Executive Committee for five years.
She continues to work with RTDNA on the issue of trust in journalism.
