TEGNA Announces Forthcoming Retirement of SVP of News, Ellen Crooke

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) today announced that Ellen Crooke, senior vice president of news, has made the decision to retire from TEGNA in January 2025. Crooke, who joined TEGNA (then Gannett Broadcasting) in 2002, has led TEGNA’s news team since 2014.

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TEGNA's Ellen Crooke, senior vice president of news, will retire in January 2025. (Photo: Business Wire)

“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, 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.”

“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,” said Mike Steib, president and CEO. “We thank Ellen for her many contributions to TEGNA’s success and for her continued leadership.”

Ellen Crooke added, “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 was named senior vice president of news for TEGNA in April of 2021 after serving as VP of news since September 2014. Previously, she held news leadership roles at WXIA, TEGNA’s NBC affiliate in Atlanta, and at WGRZ, TEGNA’s NBC affiliate in Buffalo. During her tenure at these stations, Crooke was also regional news executive overseeing multiple stations. Earlier in her career, she was news director for WNDU in South Bend, Indiana and assistant news director for WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky.

She 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.

About TEGNA

TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) is an innovative media company that serves the greater good of our communities. Across platforms, TEGNA tells empowering stories, conducts impactful investigations and delivers innovative marketing solutions. With 64 television stations in 51 U.S. markets, TEGNA is the largest owner of top 4 network affiliates in the top 25 markets among independent station groups, reaching approximately 39 percent of all television households nationwide. TEGNA also owns leading multicast networks True Crime Network and Quest. TEGNA offers innovative solutions to help businesses reach consumers across television, digital and over-the-top (OTT) platforms, including Premion, TEGNA’s OTT advertising service. For more information, visit www.TEGNA.com.

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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.