By Paul Greeley
817-578-6324, Paul@NewsBlues.com

NOTE: This is from Jill Manuel, founder of JCat Group and The Trust Shift, a newsletter discussing the changing trust dynamics that are transforming journalism, leadership, and modern communication.

Manuel spent more than twenty years running newsrooms and teaching journalists how to communicate when the stakes were highest.

News Blues does accept submissions for Guest Commentaries, but we reserve the right to publish or edit them. Send your commentary to Paul@NewsBlues.com

TV Newsrooms Need to Find Ways to Retain Journalists

By Jill Manuel

Newsrooms keep asking how to reach younger audiences.

Maybe they should start by asking how to keep the journalists they already have.

I spoke with Mike Beaudet about his new research on the survival of local TV.

He told me about Leanna Scachetti —an MMJ in Roanoke, Virginia, who was grinding through the same cycle we all know too well.

The 4 a.m. alarm.
The same fire story with a different address.
The package that looks exactly like the one you filed last week.

Cover it.
Do a live shot.
Shoot it.
Write it.
Edit it.
File the web story.
Post to social.

Ten-hour days. Breaking news. Weather coverage. Another fire.

Repeat.

Then she became a digital content creator at WCVB Channel 5.

Her words: “It cured any sort of burnout.”

The job became exciting again.

Interesting.
New.

Here’s what kills me:

We talk about digital strategy like it’s only about reaching Gen Z.

But what if it’s also about saving your best people from walking out the door?

Leanna isn’t an anomaly.

She’s a signal.

Newsrooms are bleeding talent. Not because journalists stopped caring—but because we’ve trapped them in a loop that makes caring feel impossible.

▻ Same rundown, different day
▻ Same scripts, recycled
▻ Same grind, no end in sight

When people walk out, they almost always cite the workload.

Meanwhile, the reporters who get pulled into digital work?

They’re seeing their videos hit 20,000, 30,000 views.
They’re learning new skills.
They’re actually excited to come to work.

Mike put it simply: Once people got over the hump of how to do it, they bought in—because they could see the results.

The digital content creator role isn’t just an audience play.

It’s a retention strategy hiding in plain sight.

News directors: You’re not just competing for viewers anymore.

You’re competing for the journalists who haven’t quit yet.

What if the role you need to create is also the reason your best people stay?

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