Reaction is pouring in after the E.W. Scripps Company confirmed reports that it was laying off hundreds of employees at a dozen television news stations across the country, including Corpus Christi’s NBC affiliate, KRIS 6 News.
The layoffs come as the 150-year-old news media company headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, shifts to a 24-hour streaming news model powered largely by AI automation systems developed by Scripps employees over the last three years. The AI-powered newsroom model will eventually be expanded “to all local stations,” according to Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson.
MySA learned more than a dozen employees at KRIS 6 received layoff notices. That includes behind-the-scenes employees, such as technical directors, producers, digital producers, support staff, and photographers, as well as on-air talent, like anchors.
KRIS 6 reporter Drew Bishop assures viewers he wasn’t laid off
While word of the layoffs began to spread on social media Tuesday morning, KRIS 6 multimedia journalist Andrew “Drew” Bishop was attending a news conference with Corpus Christi city officials as they announced the easing of water restrictions following a years-long, historic drought. Bishop took to Facebook late Tuesday to respond to viewers…