Although the public trusts local news more than national coverage, local media outlets must continually adapt to the public’s call for a greater diversity of topics and publishing platforms. To sustain that trust and deliver more content, local news and media outlets that have traditionally been ultra-competitive are breaking down the walls between them and creating new collaborative opportunities.
The San Francisco Chronicle and KCRA-TV in Sacramento, California — both Hearst media properties — recently launched such a collaborative effort. Three journalists with multimedia reporting experience were hired and added to the Chronicle newsroom staff. The video content they create will be added to the Chronicle's website and broadcast on KCRA and KSBW, another Hearst TV station in Salinas, and on the most popular social media platforms.
“This project is an opportunity to focus on the California region where we have strong local journalism. We want to bring these local reporters together and do even more for the region, benefiting Hearst news and broadcast outlets and the broader community. We’re already experiencing some success,” Barbara Maushard, senior vice president and chief content officer, News, Hearst Television, said.
Joy Jihyun Jeong is the digital content producer of the video journalism team. Sarah McGrew and Ryan Curry are the multimedia journalists covering stories throughout the region. Maggie Beidelman is the Chronicle’s newsroom video editor. She coordinates the work of the rest of the team and is the liaison between them and the newsroom.
“We hired these three people specifically for this effort. It was an investment in journalism because we want to ensure a future for journalism. We’re adding people to the newsroom to create and publish important content,” Maushard said.
“Our new video team allows us to tell our stories across more platforms. KCRA increases its San Francisco coverage while we have access to more video content, which is the present and future of storytelling. It’s a win, win for everyone,” Emilio Garcia-Ruiz, editor-in-chief of the Chronicle, said.
According to Garcia-Ruiz, the initial stage of the project is integrating editorial workflow and newsroom operations of the Chronicle and KCRA. The team has already achieved great productivity, indicating their professionalism and ability to identify new stories that lend themselves to video storytelling.
“We have quite a tech- and video-savvy newsroom, but sometimes those reporters may not think about the video possibility and including a video person during reporters’ interviews. That’s the workflow component, determining when video should enter the workflow, which should be very early in the reporting process,” Garcia-Ruiz added.
Creating opportunities for Chronicle journalists to be more visible in the community is another benefit of the video project for Garcia-Ruiz. An investigative piece included an interview with the two reporters explaining how they approached and covered the story.
“The Chronicle obtained a great video of the reporters talking about their work. KCRA had a segment on an interesting topic it wouldn’t have otherwise had. If a similar topic has national implications, Hearst TV will make it available to all the stations. This is also a great example of our company-wide initiative called Hearst Harmony, where we’re encouraged to work with other Hearst partners across the aisle,” Garcia-Ruiz said.
Although the video content has the most impact when integrated with individual articles, Garcia-Ruiz said the Chronicle has also featured live video on its website’s home page, especially during the 2024 elections and for significant speeches.
Bob Sillick has held many senior positions and served a myriad of clients during his 47 years in marketing and advertising. He has been a freelance/contract content researcher, writer, editor and manager since 2010. He can be reached at bobsillick@gmail.com.
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