Sony Pixel Power calrec Sony

Best in Broadcasting, Barr None

23/09/2020

Emily Barr, president and CEO of Graham Media Group, is TV Technologys sister publication B C's Broadcaster of the Year. Barr has led the broadcast TV division of Graham Holdings Group since 2012. Its stations include KPRC Houston; WDIV Detroit; WSLS Roanoke, Va.; KSAT San Antonio, Texas; WKMG Orlando, Fla.; and WJXT-WCWJ Jacksonville, Fla. Graham Media Group also has Graham Digital and Social News Desk in its portfolio.

Graham Media Group was named B C's Station Group of the Year in 2016. Barr came to Graham after a long run as president and general manager of ABC-owned WLS Chicago. She will be honored as Broadcaster of the Year at TVB's Alt Forward Conference on Oct. 1.

Barr spoke with B C about the stations' coverage of COVID and racial equality, how they reach younger viewers and what the future looks like for local broadcast. I have great faith in local television, she said. I believe it's incredibly important, maybe more important today than ever. An edited transcript follows.

B C: In terms of COVID coverage, any stories at the Graham stations that stood out for you?

Emily Barr: We have been covering COVID, obviously, from the very beginning, and we've been really trying to make it clear to people what is factual versus the rumors and the misinformation that seems to run around social media. We've done a lot of work to try to make it clear what's going on and what people can do to stay safe.

In Jacksonville, one of our reporters actually contracted COVID and did a whole series of reports on what it's like to go through it and how sick he was. He chose to do this, we didn't ask him to. It was met with a lot of incredible responses because it was a very personal point of view of living through this.

We've had about 23 people across the group contract COVID. Everyone has recovered, which is very much a blessing. One employee's spouse, unfortunately, passed away from it. Early in April, we were feeling the weight of it just from that one incident. Since then, the people who have contracted COVID have all recovered. A couple landed in the hospital for a day or two, but nobody had to be put on a ventilator.

We've been trying to really get at the misinformation and give people really good facts so they can make informed decisions.

B C: Any Graham stories on the fights for racial equality that stood out?

EB: WSLS in Roanoke, our smallest station, just did an amazing report, a primetime special and a series of news reports and online reports called 2020 Focus: The Push For Equality. It was really, really well done. They went back and looked at the history of Roanoke, they looked at redlining, some of the housing issues that came up, things that were done with the development of the communities around Lynchburg and Roanoke that caused neighborhoods to become cut off. They explained all that history and where the inequity has grown from.

What I really thought they did a particularly good job on was, they talked to leaders in the community about what they're trying to do going forward. It wasn't just a historical piece, but a look forward. There was quite a bit of hope in the information we provided. It felt more positive as a result.

Every station has gotten involved and has been doing reporting on this. The way we work as a company, we never tell our stations what to report on and how they should do their work. They will occasionally get together and share the stories they do when it is something larger than a single community. In the push for racial equity and inclusion and justice, our news directors have gotten on the phone with each other and really tried to wrap their arms around it, look at the fault lines, look at the issues that have plagued so many of these cities. They're doing a series of ongoing reports, they're not just doing one-and-done. This has become part of the fabric in each newscast in each of these communities.

B C: With so many workers showing they can do their jobs from home, how do you see the Graham stations the actual buildings looking in a year?

EB: I think there's going to be a little more room in all of these TV stations. What we have discovered is that we've been able to do our work really efficiently and without any interruptions, with probably about 80% of our staff working remotely. The one thing you lose when you work this way is that serendipitous meeting in the hallway, the idea that might get shared between one person and another just because they happen to be talking to each other. That has to be more formalized because you have to get on teams or get on Zoom or whatever video platform you are using and it becomes less by chance and more by direct connection that you have to make.

I think that the buildings themselves will feel a little more spacious, because some people that work for us will not be coming back on a regular basis other than maybe for meetings. We have a couple of hubs. We have a traffic hub out of Jacksonville; I think 17 people work in that hub. What we found is that they're really working well from home and there may not be a need to bring them back in full time. With some of the hubbing you find station groups doing these days, it may make more sense to allow them to work from home.

It also gives you the flexibility to hire from other cities if that is what you choose to do. If you're looking for someone, you don't have to limit yourself to someone who lives in Jacksonville.

I think what will happen is, when we can safely allow people to come back into the buildings, we will probably have a fairly large percentage of them come back. But there will be more flexibility in terms of working from home a few days a week. Salespeople have much more flexibility to go to sales calls directly from home; maybe they'll work
LINK: https://www.tvtechnology.com/news/best-in-broadcasting-barr-none...
See more stories from tvtechnology

Most recent headlines

05/01/2027

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be demoed at CES 2026

Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...

09/10/2026

Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026

September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026 New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...

07/10/2026

Dalet Flex LTS Delivers Smarter Media Operations from Ingest to Distribution

Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...

22/09/2026

Young Journalist Award 2026: Meet the Final 12

From Malaysia to Mexico and from DR Congo to Ukraine, this year's 12 finalists for the 2026 Thomson Foundation Young Journalist of the Year award tell extra...

22/09/2026

ESPN, Precision Lasers Light Up NHL Player Media Tour in Las Vegas

The annual preseason content-gathering event brought 36 NHL players to Las Vegas, where ESPN used 2.5 kilowatts of laser power and a motion-control camera syste...

22/09/2026

Neumann Introduces KK 104 A and KK 105 A Wireless Capsule Heads

Neumann has introduced the KK 104 A (cardioid) and KK 105 A (supercardioid) wireless capsule heads, succeeding the KK 204 and KK 205. The new capsules are compa...

22/09/2026

NFL and TMRW Sports Announce Pro Flag Showcase During Super Bowl LXI Week

The NFL and TMRW Sports have announced a new annual Pro Flag Showcase to be held during Super Bowl LXI week in Los Angeles. The event will feature top flag foot...

22/09/2026

Washington State University Unveils New Daktronics Video Board and Audio System at Gesa Field

Washington State University has unveiled a new end zone video display and audio ...

22/09/2026

SVG Sit-Down: Disney's Dave Johnson on ESPN's New 4K HDR Distribution Pipeline and What It Means for Super Bowl LXI and Beyond

Disney's SVP of Live Operations and Engineering details the technology behin...

22/09/2026

Cosm Promotes Mazen Alawar to SVP of Marketing, Alexis Scalice to VP of Cosm Studios

Cosm has announced two senior promotions. Mazen Alawar has been promoted to SVP,...

22/09/2026

Mississippi State University Extends Camera Relationship with KOKUSAI DENKI

Mississippi State University's University Television Center has purchased four KOKUSAI DENKI SK-UHD7000-S2 cameras since 2024, with plans to add two more, a...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Appoints Christine Kjellvard as Interim CFO

Net Insight has announced that Christine Kjellvard will assume the role of interim Chief Financial Officer on November 1, 2026. Kjellvard has previously held in...

22/09/2026

Net Insight Launches Zyntai TimeNode Access PTP Grandmaster for Edge Sites

Net Insight has announced Zyntai TimeNode Access, a compact PTP Grandmaster designed for distributed edge sites. The product carries secure, precise time across...

22/09/2026

The Weight Explores the High Cost of Freedom in the Depression Era

Sam Hazeldine, Austin Amelio, Padraic McKinley, Julia Jones, and Ethan Hawke attend the premiere of The Weight at The Ray Theatre on January 26, 2026, in Park...

22/09/2026

Avalanche Tones introduce Noise Suite

Second high-gain tone plug-in released Following on from their debut release, Chainsaw Suite, Avalanche Tones have announced the launch of their second plug...

22/09/2026

LW6 wireless headphones from Lewitt Audio

Uncompressed audio with below 6ms of latency Lewitt's have just introduced their first pair of headphones which, despite being aimed primarily at studio...

22/09/2026

Neumann launch the KK 104 A & KK 105 A

Two new capsule heads for Sennheiser wireless systems Neumann have announced the upcoming launch of the KK 104 A and KK 105 A, a pair of new premium condens...

22/09/2026

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance

Apogee Plugins Are Moving to Plugin Alliance We're excited to share an important update about the future of Apogee plugins. Apogee plugins are moving to Pl...

22/09/2026

SipRadius honored with a Technology And Engineering Emmy...

Parkland, Florida, US, September 22, 2026: SipRadius, widely recognized for making content processing and connectivity secure and seamless, has been honored wit...

22/09/2026

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, brows and ears

VanityFilter 3.1.5 adds project files and adjustable protection around lips, bro...

22/09/2026

Chile's TV+ Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design

Chile's TV Modernizes Broadcast Operations with Blackmagic Design Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments URSA Broadcast G2 brings versatility...

22/09/2026

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing

OWC Shares Sneak Peek at Amazon Prime Big Deal Days Pricing Brie Clayton September 22, 2026 0 Comments Image courtesy of Deposit Photos Business and ...

22/09/2026

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music Festival

Berklee's First Homecoming Block Party Brings Alumni Home for Global Music F...

22/09/2026

New TVU Pocket Offers Broadcast Features In Phone-Sized Unit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Operative Launches Unified Platform for Advertising and Broadcast Management

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Element Launches New TiVo-Powered Smart TVs in the U.S.

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

NOAA Taps Tomorrow.io for Improved U.S. Weather Forecasts

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Gray Media Promotes Tim Maloney to GM and Director of Sales at WBKO

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Reports: Paramount Reaches Settlement with State AGs in Antitrust Suit

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

New Research Lays Out Streaming Services Best Defense Against Churn

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sinclair Expands The National News Desk

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Paramount Settles Antitrust Lawsuit over WBD Merger

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

U.S. Broadband Industry Investment Hits $92.6 Billion

Share Copy link Facebook X Linkedin Bluesky Email...

22/09/2026

Sky commissions Tupac murder trial documentary from Passion Pictures & Propagate Content

From Academy Award-winning Passion Pictures and BAFTA-winning director Marian Mo...

22/09/2026

Wi-Fi, phones and power lines: understanding EMF exposure

Whether it be from the sun or from our phones and other devices, we are all exposed to electromagnetic radiation in some shape or form. With the dramatic growth...

22/09/2026

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as Claude and Gemini Gain Ground on ChatGPT

Comscore's latest AI Intelligence Report Shows Competition Intensifying as C...

22/09/2026

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry

The Factory-X Project Sets Standards for Data Sovereignty in Industry Arvato Systems Brings Digital Sovereignty to Industrial Practice Factory-X Successfully...

22/09/2026

Apple opens Apple Music Hall, a\u00A0state-of-the-art live music venue in London - PRESS RELEASE - Posted on 21 September 2026

LONDON Apple today announced the opening of Apple Music Hall, a brand-new state-...

22/09/2026

Young creativity across the island of Ireland takes centre stage as sixth RT This is Art! competition launches

RT , Creative Ireland and Shared Island Initiative ask young artists to respon...

22/09/2026

NVIDIA Isaac ROS 5.0 Advances Agentic, Open Source Robotics Development

To build and deploy sophisticated robotics applications that can perceive, reason and act in dynamic environments, developers need new physical AI models and to...

21/09/2026

Manifold Taps Ryhaan Williams for North America COO Post

Manifold Technologies, developer of software-defined, FPGA-accelerated infrastructure for live production, has named Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer...

21/09/2026

SNS Wins IAMT Best Journal Article Award

Studio Network Solutions (SNS) has won Best Journal Article at the 2026 IAMT Impact Awards for What Video Editors Need When Everything Is Changing Around Them,...

21/09/2026

MLW Announces Streaming Deal with Tubi for Weekly FUSION Series

Major League Wrestling (MLW) has announced a streaming distribution agreement with Tubi for its weekly series MLW FUSION. Beginning September 17, new episodes w...

21/09/2026

Adam Smith Named Chairman of Direct-to-Consumer at Disney Entertainment

Disney Entertainment has announced that Adam Smith has been named Chairman, Direct-to-Consumer, with responsibility for Disney and Hulu including product, engi...

21/09/2026

United Airlines and DISH to Offer Live Football on Starlink-Enabled Seatback Screens

United Airlines and DISH have announced an agreement to bring live professional ...

21/09/2026

SES to Provide Satellite Distribution for JioStar Channels Across India

SES and JioStar have announced a multi-year agreement under which SES will provide satellite distribution services for JioStar's television channel portfoli...

21/09/2026

Detroit Red Wings Announce Detroit SportsNet Broadcast Details for 2026-27 Season

The Detroit Red Wings have announced details for their inaugural season on Detro...

21/09/2026

Manifold Technologies Appoints Ryhaan Williams as CCO for North America

Manifold Technologies has appointed Ryhaan Williams as Chief Commercial Officer for North America, effective October 1, 2026. Based in Jacksonville, Florida, Wi...

21/09/2026

DAZN Pick Up L.A. Kings DTC Streaming Rights; ABTV Will Continue as Local TV Home

Angels Broadcast Television (ABTV), the local television home of the Los Angeles...