NAHJ Meets With Tegna

Tegna has been called out for a number of diversity issues, starting at the top with CEO Dave Lougee and filtering down to their stations, such as KUSA in Denver.

KUSA was put on blast by former Reporter Lori Lizarraga.

Lizarraga. called out the station for the treatment of her and the Hispanic community.

The problems outlined were bad enough that the National Association of Hispanic Journalists asked for a meeting with Tegna.

Dave Lougee did not attend the meeting, although one would think that he should have, but according to the NAHJ, Grady Tripp, Tegna’s chief diversity and inclusion officer, and Eric Valadez, Tegna’s corporate content executive team member did show up for the meeting.

The NAHJ summed up the meeting:

During the meeting, Tripp described specific diversity and inclusion initiatives and a proposed system to hold newsroom leadership accountable. However, there is no guarantee that those initiatives and proposals will be carried out or how effective these proposals would be. TEGNA has made it clear they stand by the leadership of KUSA, despite the numerous accounts by employees showing discrimination and a pattern of behavior on the part of management that allows this hostile environment to continue. The current leadership has been in power for decades, and despite promises of change over the years, there has been no improvement.

NAHJ says that their National Board leadership will return for follow-up meetings with Tegna leadership in mid-April. They are also looking to speak to Lougee, Patti Dennis, director of recruiting, and KUSA News Director Tim Ryan.