Viewers of KGTV-TV ABC 10News won’t be seeing some of their familiar anchors and reporters following layoffs initiated by E.W. Scripps Company, the San Diego television station’s owner.
Roughly 20 staffers, including photographers, producers, and a receptionist, have lost their jobs, sources told Times of San Diego.
The local journalists — who represented hundreds of years of combined experience in broadcast news — are the latest additions to a growing, industry-wide trend of media job losses.
According to sources familiar with the situation who spoke to Times of San Diego on condition of anonymity, KGTV-TV anchors-reporters who are gone include:
Veteran newsroom staffer Rachel Bianco, who joined the 10News team in May 2009 Nigerian native Wale Aliyu, an anchor since October 2022, who was teamed with longtime evening anchor Kimberly Hunt Team 10 senior investigator Jim Avila, a newsman since 1973, a former senior White House correspondent during President Barack Obama’s second term and national correspondent for ABC News, who joined KGTV in November 2023; Sports anchor Steve Smith, who has covered sports for 25 years and was known for telling stories about teams and athletes who have overcome the odds; Lindsey Peña, who joined KGTV in April of 2017, and covered the Native American and LGBTQ+ communities; Chula Vista native Vanessa Paz, a morning meteorologist and traffic anchor, who joined 10News in January 2020; Reporter Madison Weil, who joined in May 2022 and reported on the homeless, refugee, Ukrainian and Palestine communities; Weekend morning anchor and reporter Aaron Dickens, a member of the LGBTQ+ communities, according to his station bio.Among the videographers and editors who were let go included Mike Howder, Sara Wemy, Paul Anderegg, Sean Dooley, Lyle McCartee, Maria-Camilla Murcia, Jessica Howard, and Steve Martinez.
Producers who lost their jobs included Rose Arslan, Enedina Cisneros, and Deyja Charles. Receptionist Gina Welker was also laid off.
Leon Clark, VP and general manager for KGTV, ABC 10 News, told Times of San Diego in an email, “While I can’t confirm specific numbers or names, I can tell you that there are impacted positions at KGTV. These are not easy decisions, but the changes are essential as KGTV and our parent company, Scripps, respond to evolving viewer habits and the continuing disruptions with the broadcasting industry.
“The 10News team remains committed to listening to and reporting on the stories where we live and work. We still have a large team of reporters that are integrated into communities across the San Diego area, delivering the news and information that matter to our viewers.”
Clark also shared a comment from E.W. Scripps Company: “Over the last two years, prompted by research and changing consumer viewing habits, Scripps has been transforming how our local news is produced and delivered, with two goals: to enhance the economic durability of our business and to improve the quality of our journalism.
“Through these efforts, our aim is to cover our communities more deeply and to do this in a sustainable way to ensure we can continue providing our audiences with essential services well into the future.”
Scripps, owner of 61 stations in 41 markets, is one of the largest local TV operators in the country. In 2023, the last time full-year data was available, Scripps was ranked ninth overall among national television operators in terms of annual revenue, bringing in $1.38 billion.
About a dozen local Scripps stations suffered layoffs, according to broadcast trade news outlets.
It is believed the companywide layoffs totaled several hundred employees, and local station managers were told not to fill vacancies at this time.
“The media industry is in a state of continued disruption and, while difficult, these changes are part of Scripps’ ongoing commitment to adapt through this disruption and ensure we can continue providing our communities with essential services well into the future,” said a Scripps statement that appeared in trade publications.
In February, Scripps blamed refinancing negotiations, including its term loan and revolving credit facility, when it delayed its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings report. The company previously said it paid down $115 million of debt during the third quarter of 2024 and expected to pay down $300 million in total for the year.
In recent weeks, a number of other high-profile media and entertainment companies have seen job cuts. Forbes cut 5% of its staff in late January and Vox was recently hit by its third round of job cuts in two months. ABC News will reportedly merge 20/20 and Nightline into one unit, resulting in lost jobs.
The Washington Post and Huffington Post also laid off employees earlier this year. The Walt Disney Company has announced about 6% of its employees who are assigned to the company’s ABC News Group and Disney Entertainment Networks units will be let go.
Tegna, Inc. reported about 20 journalists and producers who were part of its fact-checking team have been laid off. Nexstar said in December that 2% of staffers would lose their jobs. In November, Gray Television announced cuts amid a restructuring.
Changes in the media landscape have been ongoing for the past two years. Last year, E.W. Scripps laid-off about 200 employees and contractors at its national news channel called Scripps News.
According to Chicago-based firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas, Inc., which tracks the employment market, 14,909 jobs were eliminated across broadcast, television, film, news and streaming in 2024. That number compares to 21,417 jobs that were loss in 2023.
San Diego AMA Seeking Entries for Sandie Awards
The American Marketing Association’s San Diego chapter is accepting entries for its third-annual Sandie Awards.
Deadline for entries is Monday, March 24.
AMA said its Sandies will recognize the best marketing campaigns and communications created by or for an agency, consultancy, corporation, educational institution, nonprofit or college student in San Diego County during the 2024 calendar year.
Award categories include branding, cause marketing, content marketing, digital marketing, event marketing, experiential marketing, influencer marketing, integrated campaign, public relations, SEO, social media strategy and implementation, video, website and marketing innovation.
Awards will be presented May 22 at the Town & Country Resort Hotel in Mission Valley. Troy Johnson, food critic, Food Network star and publisher of San Diego Magazine, will emcee the event.
“This will be our third Sandie Awards and it’s been wonderful to see the growth in terms of number of awards and participants, from in-house departments to agencies, and nonprofits to universities,” said Summer Haines, AMA San Diego VP of special events.
“The awards spotlight the standout marketing being done in San Diego County and honor professionals who are doing cutting-edge and incredibly successful work across the region.”
In 2024, AMA said 65 awards were presented from among the 100 entries submitted by 26 companies or agencies and five collegiate institutions. Kerri Verbeke Kapich, chief operating officer at the San Diego Tourism Authority, was selected as the chapter’s 2024 Marketer of the Year.
New York Times Columnist Maureen Dowd Visits San Diego to Hawk Latest Book
New York Times opinion columnist Maureen Dowd is scheduled to appear in San Diego this week to promote her new book, “Notorious: Portraits of Stars from Hollywood, Culture, Fashion, and Tech.”
Dowd, a Pulitzer Prize winner, will discuss her book from 7 to 8:30 p.m., Friday, March 21, at the La Jolla Country Day School’s Four Flowers Theater, 9490 Genesee Ave., San Diego. Admission is $53.07 for one person, $63.74 for two people, which includes a signed copy of Dowd’s book.
A promotional statement said “Notorious” is a sly and chatty collection of the columnist’s most notorious celebrity profiles, from Hollywood legends to Broadway stars to media moguls.” The book discusses Elon Musk, Bob Iger, Peter Thiel, Barry Diller, Paul Newman, Mel Brooks, Al Pacino, Eddie Murphy, Warren Beatty, and Jane Fonda.
Dowd has worked for The New York Times since 1983. In 1999, Dowd received her Pulitzer for a series of columns on the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal. Previous books authored by Dowd include “Year of Voting Dangerously,” “Bushworld: Enter at Your Own Risk,” and “Are Men Necessary?”
A frequent critic of Republicans, Dowd recently said on MSNBC, a cable news network delivering left-leaning, opinionated programming, that she was “nauseated” by President Donald Trump.
On March 21, Dowd will be interviewed by Harry Litman, creator of Talking San Diego, an event organizing entity. Previous Talking San Diego events have featured public policy-related conversations with Democratic Party elites, including Nancy Pelosi, Jamie Raskin, Jen Psaki, and Chris Hayes.
Litman, a lawyer, law professor and political commentator, is a former U.S. attorney in Pennsylvania appointed by Bill Clinton. Litman also served as a deputy assistant attorney general under Janet Reno. A Democrat, Litman served as Pennsylvania state counsel to the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign in 2004 and post-election counsel for Western Pennsylvania to the Obama-Biden campaign in 2008.
Litman’s bio says he comments on political news on various liberal news media outlets, including NPR, CNN, CBS, and MSNBC. In 2024, Litman was a live commentator for MSNBC at Donald Trump’s trial in New York City.
Since Election Day, MSNBC has an audience averaging 497,000 daily viewers, a 47% decline, according to Nielsen data. In advertisers’ coveted ages 25-to-54 demographic, MSNBC has attracted a mere 49,000 viewers.
Last year, Litman also resigned after serving for three years as senior legal columnist for the Los Angeles Times newspaper’s opinion section. His bio said he resigned over the newspaper reportedly currying favor with then-President-elect Donald Trump.
Rick Griffin is a San Diego-based public relations and marketing consultant. His MarketInk column appears weekly on Mondays in Times of San Diego.
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