With Dave Lougee gone from Tegna, replaced by Michael Steib as CEO, one of his lieutenants is following him out the door.

Tegna’s VP of News, Ellen Crooke is set to leave the company at the start of next year.

“Working with Tegna’s journalists, photojournalists, producers, meteorologists and news leaders has been the honor of a lifetime. It has been my dream job to champion our journalists whose work truly matters. I look forward to continuing to work with the news organization and Tegna’s leadership team through an important election season before retiring in January,” Crooke said.

Crooke started at the company when it was still Gannett Broadcasting and had a solid journalism reputation.

Now, as Tegna, more often than not it is a punchline to a joke.