Adrienne Roark, president, content development and integration, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, outlined a series of initiatives to staffers, including the creation of a data-journalism team that supports the whole of CBS News and Stations, a new head of weather strategy for the division, and bringing together the weather teams across CBS News and Stations to drive collaboration and innovation on weather and climate stories.
Roark said of the new data journalism team in a memo, “By combining traditional reporting with open-sourcing, statistics, and visualization, we will be able to provide more impactful and interactive stories.” The team, she added, will work as one, serving all of CBS News and Stations. A department head will be hired, one of several new hires for the data journalism division.
“Our goal is to create illustrative, interactive stories and investigations that are differentiators, break ground by inventing new tools in newsgathering and content distribution, and prioritize research and development of emerging technologies,” Roark said.
Roark’s role at CBS was expanded this month, after Wendy McMahon was promoted to president and CEO of CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures.
CBS News and Stations is also investing in its weather and climate coverage. Roark is overseeing the building of a central team dedicated to bringing together the group’s 60-plus meteorologists and weather professionals. A head of weather strategy and operations will be hired, with other hires to follow, including a head of climate coverage to develop and coordinate with climate correspondents and the new central weather team.
Roark noted how the network and station teams are already collaborating on weather, and the new head of climate coverage will “supercharge this collaboration.”
She added that CBS News and Stations will continue to work with partner The Weather Channel “to leverage the very best of what they do.”
Roark reminded staffers of the growing role weather plays in both local and national news. “Weather is often the most important content we provide local and national audiences,” she said. “From life-impacting to life-threatening weather, audiences turn to us for a sense of community connection, context, and clarity. Add in extreme weather events that are worse and more frequent, having best-in-class weather and climate coverage is now more important than ever.”
