A company devoted to automated video production products for publishers and newsrooms is welcoming a local TV news veteran with experience at TEGNA, CBS News & Stations, Meredith Local Media and Media General to their leadership ranks.
Joining Genna as a Strategic Advisor is Adrienne Roark.
The company, “built by the team behind Stringr,” made the announcement on Tuesday (10/20) via LinkedIn.
“Adrienne has spent more than three decades inside newsrooms and media organizations, giving her a deep understanding of how the work gets done and where technology can make a real difference,” it said. “She’ll work closely with our leadership and product teams as we continue building tools and workflows designed for the realities of modern media. We’re looking forward to having her perspective help shape what we build next.”
Genna’s business is built on the premise of converting structured and editorial data into video “using verified media assets and newsroom workflows — without relying on synthetic imagery.”
Explaining her decision to join Genna, Roark also took to social media platform LinkedIn to share her thoughts. She commented, “Too many of our journalists do not have enough time to do actual journalism because they are buried in busywork. Transcribing interviews. Moving files between folders. Fighting a clunky CMS. Reformatting the same story for five different platforms. Research released this year by Caretta Research, sponsored by Quickplay, found that broadcast journalists can spend up to 75% of their time on technical workflows instead of actual reporting. That is time they could spend building sources, chasing leads, and crafting stories. There are solutions to this.”
At TEGNA, Roark continues, she saw what’s possible “when product, technology, and editorial teams come together to build AI tools for journalists: less time lost to repetitive work, and more time and headspace for the real work of journalism. Now, I’m excited to share that I’m joining Genna as an advisor to help continue this work.”
Roark has 35 years of experience in newsrooms of broadcast TV stations across the nation, culminating in the role of Chief Content Officer at TEGNA prior to its acquisition by Nexstar Media Group. Before that, she held the role of President of Editorial and Newsgathering at CBS News & Stations.
Roark joined CBS News and Stations on August 2, 2021, reporting to then-President and Co-Head of CBS News and Stations Wendy McMahon. It was her second tenure at CBS, which she joined in the mid-2000s as Asst. News Director of WFOR-4 in Miami, rising to News Director in June 2007. In mid-2010, she relocated to Dallas, serving as VP/News Director of KTVT-11 and KTXA-21 for CBS. In 2014, Roark moved to Portland, Ore., taking the President/GM role for KOIN-6. She would later serve as the head of crosstown rivals KPDX-12 and KPDX-49, in June 2016, until taking the job at CBS and succeeding Peter Dunn.
She continued, “I know adopting new technology can often mean making consequential decisions about how we do what we do. But I believe the future of journalism depends on our ability and willingness to rethink what is possible, to try new things, and ask ourselves: How can AI help us continue this incredibly vital work, while still staying true to our standards and mission: To serve people. Hold power to account. And be there for the communities that depend on us most. I’m looking forward to working with the Genna team as they expand.”
