Local TV News Promos for ‘Back to School’ Life

By Paul Greeley

When the kids go back to school, you need local TV news more than ever, so these new local TV news promos say.

There’s more traffic to negotiate and you need an accurate weather forecast to dress the kids.

And tougher laws to keep drivers from passing stopped school buses that are picking up or dropping off students.

Kris Ellison Baete, VP of marketing and programming at KABC in Los Angeles, posted this promo from his sister station in San Francisco, KGO, saying, “Love this new back to school promo from the amazing ABC7 News Bay Area creative team. Great team work on this one.”

Ryan Takeo, executive reporter at KSHB, Scripps’ ABC affiliate in Kansas City, posted this spot about how the newsroom’s persistence led to tougher penalties for those Missouri drivers who illegally pass stopped school buses.

Over the past year, Marlon Martinez stayed focused on that issue.

We met weekly to brainstorm follow-ups. His reporting helped bring attention to the problem, and that caught the eye of state lawmakers.

I’m proud of Marlon’s work and proud of the newsroom culture we’re building. We are valuing geographic beat ownership, persistence, and following through on issues that matter to our communities.

Great work, Marlon! It’s rewarding to see local journalism making a difference.

John Simone, a creative services producer at WTAE, Hearst’s ABC affiliate in Pittsburgh, wrote on social media that “back-to-school mornings are almost here. A fun one for WTAE Hearst Pittsburgh built around helping families get back in gear.”

Paul Greeley is the manager and a writer for News Blues.

He can be reached at Paul@NewsBlues.com or 817-578-6324.