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The Nexstar News Director Exodus

Yesterday, FTVLive told you that WPIX (NYC) News Director Vicki Burns is leaving the Nexstar station.

Burns was a holdover from the Tribune days.

Last week, FTVLive told you that KTXL (Sacramento) News Director Monika Díaz left the station. She was also a holdover from Tribune.

Earlier this year, FTVLive FIRST told you that KTLA (LA) News Director Jason Ball resigned from Nexstar’s left coast station.

What’s happening?

Sources inside Nexstar say that there is a couple of reasons you are seeing these News Directors leaving stations.

First off, as their performance reviews were happening, word is that Nexstar felt that the Tribune holdover ND’s were making too much money. So, when raise time came, the News Directors were seeing no increase or a very small increase.

Insiders say that played a part, but the bigger reason is that Nexstar constantly buries their ND’s with ridiculous projects and paperwork.

FTVLive has talked to a number of Nexstar News Directors that are asked to fill out all kinds of paperwork, mainly just so Nexstar’s VP of News Susan Tully can look like she’s doing something.

“The crap I’m asked to do is nothing more than a waste of time,” said one Nexstar News Director to FTVLive.

A couple of ND’s told FTVLive that the reports are almost always sales-related and disguised as “content”.

One News Director says that he is so often working on the Nexstar reports that he often doesn’t even know what the lead story in the newscast is?

Nexstar seems to think the best way to do business is with lots of reports and lots of meetings.

For many News Directors, it’s very frustrating.

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