Last summer, we learned that KPRC 2 Houston and its Graham Media Group sister stations were eliminating the assistant news director position in favor of three Manager of Content and Coverage or MCC positions.
Now we learn from Sean McLaughlin, the vice president of news for Graham Media Group’s local media hubs, how this change is working for the station group (including KSAT 12 San Antonio) via his article "Is It Finally Time To Change How Newsrooms Are Managed?" in TVNewsCheck:
"The one piece that intrigued me most was the elimination of the assistant news director role and the addition of the manager of content and coverage (MCC) role. The thinking was to have three MCCs and empower them to make real decisions throughout a broader section of the day, taking pressure off the news director.
The MCCs focus their day on ensuring the content engine is running smoothly, with one on the clock hours before the start of the morning news and another staying on until just before the late news. We were very intentional in looking for people with different backgrounds and experiences. Some come from digital, some from linear producing and some from traditional reporting. They drive the process from planning through distribution, with much more focus on the front end, allowing for more optionality on the back end.
Has it been perfect? No. It takes a while to move past the native role or platform. The news director must get comfortable giving up some control. The three MCCs need to embrace the idea of working as a team, not as individual managers. Having the MCC truly be an advocate for the consumer and where they may be at different points in the day is critical. Moving digital and social distribution to earlier in the day has been tough, but it’s improving. In a short period of time, two people who were in the MCC roles have been elevated to the news director role. They are prepared from day one in a way I rarely saw in the old assistant news director model.
One other management role I increasingly see as a must-have is the executive reporter. This is a seasoned journalist elevated to help other reporters improve their journalism while also teaching them new skills that help with storytelling creativity. News directors would love to do this, but timewise, something has to give, and it’s often the close contact with the people tasked with putting together the stories we deliver to our audiences. This has created a big void. In a newsroom with MCCs who have reporting backgrounds, this is somewhat less important. In the absence of that, I see it as critical. Someone needs to be guiding the story and not focusing solely on the newscast. This also brings a field voice into the leadership team, which has been a huge void in most newsrooms."
