KUSA's next news director: Christy Moreno

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNfUJERQIpk

Christy Moreno must be an up-and-comer in the Gannett ranks. She’s about to make the jump from Nielsen market No. 61, Knoxville, which serves 515,190 people, to market No. 17, Denver with 1,565,760. At the same time, she’ll take over one of the most successful newsrooms in the country in terms of ratings, a station that has been dominant in the market’s news contests for decades. And she’ll succeed a much honored veteran who was in place for most of that time, Patti Dennis, who has been bumped up to a VP-recruiting post for the corporation.

KUSA last week named Moreno, news director at Gannett’s WBIR in Knoxville, as its next news boss, the first change in the newsroom’s top job in 18 years. A number of internal candidates were passed over for the post.

At WBIR, she led the staff to win a National Edward R. Murrow award for Overall Excellence for a small market station. Moreno joined WBIR in 2012 from Gannett’s San Antonio station where she was assistant news director.

Announcing the appointment, KUSA’s Mark Cornetta said, “Christy’s strong leadership skills, record of success and innovative ideas are just what we need to continue serving as Colorado’s news leader. She brings a multiscreen approach to the newsroom and is committed to our tradition of world-class coverage.”

More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2014/12/01/kusas-next-news-director-christy-moreno/20593/)

[Colorado Media Newsroom]

From The Denver Post:

597


Recently named KUSA news director Christy Moreno, who succeeds Patti Dennis after a winning 18-year run, will begin Jan. 12. "It's a very big jump" from Knoxville to Denver (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2014/12/01/kusas-next-news-director-christy-moreno/20593/), she acknowledged.


At WBIR she oversaw a newsroom of 65 people; at KUSA she’ll run a newsroom of just over 100. In Knoxville, they’ve been busy covering a school bus accident this week. In Denver, breaking news regularly rises to national attention. But throughout the interviewing process, Moreno said, there were “so many similarities” between the Knoxville and Denver news outlets. “We both have extra-strong brands, we do 53 hours of news per week. At every turn, it was “we do the same thing.””

Moreno, 41, from Chickasha, OK, speaks with undisguised awe of her predecessor/mentor in the Denver job. “Those are impossible shoes to fill but I can’t think of a more incredible journalist to learn from. There’s no replacing Patti Dennis, you just don’t.” (In fact, Dennis has made it clear she intends to be in the control room for breaking news, overseeing the coverage. Moreno is undaunted.)

“There’s no bigger station than 9News. We often watch their pieces in morning meetings. Patti and I have known each other 2½ years,” through Gannett conferences. “We hit it off from the get-go. We’re both Oakies, both have two daughters (hers are ages 7 and 4). We immediately bonded.”

Besides Oklahoma roots, the two share an appreciation for similar on-air talent. “There have been several people along the way that she’s hired who I hoped to hire, two in San Antonio (her previous station) who she had in her shop.”

Moreno embraces social media and digital coverage — “I know it’s the future, but I also like and enjoy it” — but has no immediate priorities to push here, even as the station’s share of the local news audience has declined from record-setting high ratings in past decades. “It is such an incredibly strong newsroom. There is nothing broken there.”

More... (http://blogs.denverpost.com/ostrow/2014/12/05/christy-moreno-incoming-9news-boss/20659/)