Radio News Now Staff

 

The E.W. Scripps Company says technology will help put more journalists in the field, publish local news faster, and build a sustainable model for the future.

First, 268 employees are losing their jobs.

Scripps President and CEO Adam Symson disclosed the companywide reduction in an employee memo as the broadcaster moves toward 24/7 local news streams, centralized digital production, automated workflows and greater use of artificial intelligence.

The company says the affected jobs are primarily connected to traditional newscast-production workflows, including some producer and director positions. Cuts have been confirmed at KRIS in Corpus Christi and KXXV in Waco, with changes extending across Scripps markets.

This is not proof that a machine is replacing each of those 268 employees one-for-one. It is proof that AI and automation are central parts of a larger restructuring that is reducing payroll and changing how local television news is produced.

The distinction matters. So does the outcome.

Scripps is rebuilding around continuous local news

The traditional local television newsroom is organized around scheduled newscasts: morning, midday, early evening and late evening. Scripps says its new model will put the story first instead of the clock.

Approximately a dozen smaller markets are expected to lead the rollout of 24/7 local news streams. Reporters will publish stories, live updates, and video throughout the day rather than waiting for a scheduled broadcast. Linear newscasts will continue, but streaming and social distribution will receive greater priority.

A centralized hub will handle some digital production and strategy that Scripps believes does not need to be duplicated in every market. The company is also consolidating operations in markets where it owns multiple stations.

On paper, the case is understandable. A reporter should not have to hold a story until 6 p.m. A newsroom should be able to publish verified information when it is ready and distribute it wherever viewers are watching.

Automation can help transcribe interviews, search archives, create captions, organize video, translate information and remove repetitive production work.

The question is not whether those tools can improve a workflow. They can.

The question is what Scripps does with the time, money and positions they eliminate.

The financial target is not hidden

In February, Scripps announced an enterprise transformation plan designed to produce $125 million to $150 million in annualized EBITDA improvement by 2028. The company said that improvement would come from both cost savings and revenue growth, using technology that includes AI and automation.

That is not a side issue. It is the declared business objective.

Scripps reported $517 million in first-quarter revenue and an $18 million loss attributable to shareholders. Local Media improved, but the broader company remains under pressure to strengthen earnings, reduce leverage and compete for audiences and advertising across more platforms.

There is nothing unusual about a company trying to become financially sustainable. Local journalism cannot serve a community if the business supporting it collapses.

But financial improvement and journalistic improvement are not automatically the same thing.

Cutting a producer may lower expenses immediately. Whether that producer’s work is replaced by a better system, shifted onto an already busy reporter, or simply abandoned will determine whether the audience receives a stronger product.

Management has made a measurable promise

Scripps says the transformation is designed to put more journalists in communities and redirect resources from production work into original reporting.

Radio News Now believes that promise should be evaluated with evidence.

Over the next year, Scripps should disclose or demonstrate:

  • Whether the number of field reporters rises or falls
  • Whether each market produces more original local stories
  • Whether breaking news reaches viewers faster
  • Whether scheduled newscasts retain their accuracy and production quality
  • Whether reporters carry heavier editing, writing and publishing workloads
  • Whether corrections increase or decrease
  • Whether the 24/7 streams contain meaningful local reporting or repeated content
  • Whether communities receive more investigative, neighborhood and public-service journalism
  • Whether savings are reinvested in reporting or flow primarily to the bottom line
  • Whether audience, trust, digital revenue and advertiser results improve

Those measurements will separate transformation from terminology.

AI should strengthen journalism, not become an excuse to thin it out

The strongest use of AI in a newsroom is not replacing judgment. It is giving journalists more time to exercise it.

AI can find a forgotten interview in an archive. It cannot decide which frightened resident needs patience before going on camera. It can generate captions. It cannot earn a source’s trust. It can help sort public records. It cannot replace the reporter who knows that an official answer does not match what a neighborhood is experiencing.

Local journalism is built on verification, context, presence and accountability. Those are human responsibilities even when technology assists the process.

If Scripps uses AI to reduce routine work and then sends more reporters into the field, the company may build a faster and stronger local news operation.

If it uses the same language to produce more hours of cheaper content with fewer experienced people, it will have completed a cost-cutting program – not a journalism transformation.

The earnings call should answer more than a savings question

Scripps will report second-quarter results after the market closes on August 6 and hold its earnings call on August 7. Investors will understandably ask about savings, restructuring costs, revenue and EBITDA.

Journalists and communities should ask one more question:

What specific improvement in local reporting will viewers receive because 268 positions were eliminated?

The test is not whether AI saves money. It almost certainly can.

The test is what happens to the journalism after the money is saved.

Radio News Now will follow the job reductions, staffing changes, 24/7 stream launches, company results, and the quality of the local reporting that reaches the public.