Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication is partnering with PBS to produce a new show called “PBS NewsHour West.”
“PBS NewsHour West” will keep current “PBS NewsHour” anchor Judy Woodruff and continue to air the original show across the country. But for breaking news updates after the show’s East Coast airing, the team at the West edition will provide news focused on the western part of the country.
The show, slated for release later in 2019, will also sometimes replace parts of the East Coast-based show for the western audience with big West Coast-related news stories.
Initially, the show will have four job positions opening in Phoenix. According to “NewsHour” Executive Producer Sara Just, PBS is currently in the hiring process for them. Just said the number of positions may eventually increase to six total.
“Everybody will be kind of a multitasker. Because it’s a small team we want everyone to be super flexible in the work,” she said.
While the editorial decisions will primarily be the responsibility of the original “NewsHour” team, Just said the production of the West edition will be handled in Arizona.
Cronkite School Dean and Arizona PBS CEO Christopher Callahan said he believes having “NewsHour West” here will continue the impact ASU has had on downtown Phoenix. He believes having the show located downtown will help grow the area’s prominence to the public.
Cronkite School Associate Dean and Arizona PBS General Manager of Innovation and Design Mark Lodato said he believes the partnership is beneficial to the state of Arizona and the local community because of more engagement with a national news outlet. Lodato said the staff of the show will look for opportunities to interact with the downtown community.
He thinks the Cronkite News bureaus in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C., will also be of benefit to the “NewsHour” team, providing more opportunities for the organizations to interact and work together, including with Cronkite School students.
“Once these professionals realize the strength and capability of our students, I think there will be many ways in which we can contribute to the ‘NewsHour’ content across multiple platforms,” he said.
Callahan said he believes the partnership will result in great opportunities for Cronkite students.
“To have the ‘NewsHour’ here, to have some of their producers and anchors and correspondents here, we think it’s going to be just much, much richer opportunities for our students,” Callahan said.
He said he envisions eventual possibilities for students including internships and possibly a professional program, which Cronkite students are required to complete as part of their journalism curriculum. The programs function as professional media immersion experiences, are run by the Cronkite School and count for class credit.
Callahan said the partnership will also enable more in-depth coverage of stories that affect the western part of the country, helping make them more accessible and showing their impact on the country as a whole.
“Stories that have sort of emanated from the West are now national stories,” he said. “Water (conservation) is a perfect example.”
He also gave examples of other story topics such as environmental issues and the U.S.-Mexico border.
Contact the reporter at tjtriolo@asu.edu.
Downtown Devil's community section editor. I also write the Downtown Digest, a weekly column with things to do, with experience writing news articles and creating news videos as well. Graduating from ASU in May 2020.
