Romenesko Misc.
Baltimore Sun police reporter Justin Fenton is one of the recipients, “recognized for deftly using old and new media to cover crime.” Tribune’s memo says: “He conducted an investigation into rapes dismissed by the police department. His review revealed that Baltimore leads the country in reported rapes that police deem false. …A city audit found that half the cases were mishandled.”
From: Tribune Communications
Sent: Thursday, January 20, 2011 3:04 PM
Subject: Message from Don, Nils, Tony and Eddy/Outstanding Employees for 2010
As 2010 came to a close, the members of the Executive Council decided to establish a companywide award to recognize outstanding employees at our business units. We asked the general managers at our TV stations, the publishers of our newspapers, and the leaders of our other businesses and departments to identify one employee at the level of manager or below deserving of recognition as one of Tribune Company’s Outstanding Employees for 2010. Individual winners of these awards will receive $2500 and a certificate of appreciation in recognition of their talent, innovation and dedication in 2010; winning teams will also receive certificates and share the cash award.
Today we are announcing the award recipients publicly in the attached press release. A list of the winners and a brief description of the work for which they are being honored is below—please join us in congratulating these individuals. As we’ve said before, Tribune’s greatest asset is its employees. There is outstanding work going on across this company every day, and it is important that we recognize it and reward it.
Thank you for everything you do for Tribune.
Don, Nils, Tony and Eddy
PUBLISHING
Los Angeles Times – Syed Akbar and Reginald Morgan, Security Officers Manuel Castillo, Lead Electrician/Facilities
Recognized for responding quickly to an employee complaining of chest pains, dizziness and breathing difficulties—symptoms of a heart attack. A team that assessed the situation, administered oxygen, communicated with the Fire Department and monitored vital signs until paramedics arrived. The treating physician said the quick response helped save the employee’s life.
Chicago Tribune – Brian Boyer, Editor of News Applications
Recognized for delivering innovative digital solutions to leverage content creation. He and his team built our first WordPress blog, Chicago Breaking Business, and oversaw the development of the new TribLocal sites on WordPress.
Baltimore Sun – Justin Fenton, Reporter
Recognized for deftly using old and new media to cover crime. He conducted an investigation into rapes dismissed by the police department. His review revealed that Baltimore leads the country in reported rapes that police deem false. The U.S. Senate held hearings, in part, because of The Sun’s reporting. A city audit found that half the cases were mishandled.
Sun Sentinel – Terry Ham, Pressroom Team Leader, USA Today Team
Recognized for managing the USA Today 44 inch web width reduction, maintaining a quality score of 97%. He also led his team to provide a level of service that placed them in the top 10 printing sites for USA Today for overall quality and production performance.
Orlando Sentinel – Tracey Thomas, Manager of Contracts and other Publications
Recognized for managing Orlando’s successful conversion to a paid TV book program, saving on printing expenses and increasing cash flow. She effectively manages the vendor relationship and efforts to grow TV Weekly subscribers.
Hartford Courant – Alaine Griffin, Reporter; Helen Ubinas, Columnist
Recognized for working sources the old-fashioned way and delivering in every new way possible – tweeting minute-by-minute on big stories, writing frequent updates for the web and making numerous appearances on Tribune’s Hartford TV stations. The tweets set the standard for minute-by-minute quality reporting during a high-profile trial.
Daily Press – Nicole Paitsel, Reporter
Recognized for making her “Savvy Shopper” beat into a brand, extending from print to digital and social media. It’s not only a weekly print section, but also a stand-alone web and mobile site, “Savvyshoppertoday.com”. She used her social networks to grow a team of shoppers that push her content out to their followers.
Morning Call – Melissa Smith, Sales Manager
Recognized for taking the lead in integrating cars.com digital sales efforts, realigning the local auto sales teams and developing an ongoing digital training program. She spent significant time with key accounts, which led to the sale of newly developed sponsorships, products and improved targeted buys to deliver results for clients.
TV STATIONS
WPIX-TV – Chris Mangan, Campaign Manager/Sales
Recognized for the implementation of every promotional campaign at the station, managing all sponsorships for 25 Mets games and spearheading other significant station events.
WGN-TV – Pat Curry, Manager/Assignment Desk
Recognized for his significant contributions to the Chicago Breaking News Center and leading the charge for collaboration across the Chicago Tribune Media Group.
KTLA-TV – Bridget Meek, Digital Assets Supervisor
Recognized for his significant contributions to the Chicago Breaking News Center and leading the charge for collaboration across the Chicago Tribune Media Group.
KSWB-TV – Katie Parish, News Production Manager
Recognized for helping establish FOX5 News, shaping the studio environment and overall look of not only the morning news, but every newscast. She leads by example—the first to pull a cable, the last to leave the building.
KIAH-TV – Martin Calvi, Editor
Recognized for regularly exceeding expectations. He was instrumental in shaping the look and feel of Going Green and Anything That Rolls, two locally produced product integration shows.
KTXL-TV – Karen Hoffman, Administrative Coordinator
Recognized for being a great asset to the station. She makes work easier for everyone by supporting all station events, following through on commitments and taking great pride in everything she does.
WDCW-TV – Shannon Days, Promotions Producer
Recognized as an instrumental part of the Direct Access With Big Tigger, a locally produced program; she is heavily involved in with the creative editing of the show, and is a producer and talent manager for the show.
WPHL-TV – Efraim Sosa, National Sales Associate
Recognized for being instrumental in helping the station achieve its 2010 revenue goals. He works tirelessly to assist new clients and provide them with the best service.
WXMI-TV – Chris Koops, Assignment Manager
Recognized for his role in leading the news staff as the station searched for a new news director. He also directed the staff during primary and mid-term election coverage and played a vital role in 2010 sweeps planning and execution.
WSFL-TV – Rebecca Pico, Asst Traffic Manager
Recognized for helping lead the transition from a WSFL-based traffic department to a regionalized traffic department. She’s an incredible team player who is admired by the entire staff.
KRCW-TV – Christopher Bilbao, Writer/Producer
Recognized for serving as back-up to the engineering director, which involves working at the transmitter site when necessary. He has a great attitude and is always willing to assist in any way.
WPMT-TV – Andy Nitchman, Photo Journalist
Recognized for his leadership as the station transitioned to high-definition news production. He was instrumental in ensuring the consistent operation of all new HD cameras and the Final Cut Pro editing system, and he provided training for all of the photographers.
KDAF-TV – William Jones, Marcos Barbosa, George Chambers, Jr., James Simmons, Les Waters, Gene Peterson, Jude Garcia/Engineering
Recognized for helping the station successfully transition to high-definition and executing countless other projects to upgrade the station’s technology needs.
WTIC/WCCT – Jennifer Bernstein, Video Journalist
Recognized for being a multi-platform journalist, Jennifer shoots, writes, and edits her own stories, takes still photos for the web and writes for both the web and the Hartford Courant. She often appears ‘live’ on the afternoon newscast and writes for the 10 p.m. news.
WGNO/WNOL – Harvey Leblanc, Technician/Engineering
Recognized for outstanding customer service and understanding that a fully operating station leads to greater productivity by all. From 2 a.m. plumbing repairs at the transmitters to roof HVAC problems in inclement weather, Leblanc has been dependable 24/7.
WXIN/WTTV – Stacey Cutshaw, Asst Chief Engineer
Recognized for his willingness to fill in when nobody else was available, including the middle of the night and weekends to solve problems quickly. He continuously and tirelessly goes above and beyond the call of duty.
KCPQ/KMYQ – Nancy MacDonald, Traffic Coordinator
Recognized for her contributions, which have saved the company time and money and made it easier to access information, make better decisions and work together as a team. She targets areas for improvement and takes the initiative to streamline processes that affect departments around the station.
WGN America – Ed Mockus, Senior Manager, Credit and Tower Operations
Recognized for creating a new data base for the affiliate sales team that has been extremely useful in distribution efforts, retransmission models for Tribune TV stations, and Antenna TV. WGNA is better organized as a result of his efforts.
WGN Radio – Judy Tarmino, Accounting Manager
Recognized for willingly taking on additional finance and human resources responsibilities. She worked tirelessly last year, managing the implementation of the hourly time-entry system while keeping up with her many and varied finance and human resources responsibilities.
OTHER DIVISIONS
Tribune Media Services – Sheela Chandrasekhara, Manager of Finance and Strategy
Recognized for being instrumental in the acquisition of Cast TV. Sheela helped identify the need for online video discovery capabilities and refine a roster of potential targets. She led development of the financial model as due diligence progressed and coordinated large volumes of detailed information-flow flawlessly between several external parties, TMS management and Tribune’s corporate office.
Tribune Digital – Eric Hill, Manager/Ad Support Trafficking
Recognized for being a consummate professional who exceeds his customers’ needs on a daily basis, focusing on meeting advertisers’ needs and building a team that reflects this commitment. He provides unwavering support to Tribune’s Broadcast and Publishing digital businesses, as well as our Local TV, Schurz and Northwest Broadcast customers.
Tribune 365 – Pat Clifton, Client Services Executive
Recognized for overseeing all T365 retail teams’ clients billing, insertion orders, inventory, production and material issues, representing significant revenue and hundreds of millions of inserts, with virtually no errors. She consistently receives compliments.
Technology – Help Desk Staff
Recognized for providing outstanding support to end-users, as well as Tribune Technology support groups, 365 days a year, 24 hours a day. The help desk maintains a consistent standard of excellence.
Corporate Office – Deno Evans, Supervisor of building engineering
Recognized for taking on increased management responsibilities, and recently coordinating the repair of a high pressure steam leak without shutting down Tribune Tower’s boiler system, which is usually a necessity.
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