A local TV newsroom disappeared overnight. It’s a warning sign for what’s next. – Poynter

A local TV newsroom disappeared overnight. It’s a warning sign for what’s next.  Poynter

Widespread layoffs at WRTV in Indianapolis offer a glimpse at the cost savings brought by media mergers An entire local TV newsroom in Indianapolis disappeared overnight. News of layoffs spread on social media Wednesday morning. “If you haven’t heard yet, WRTV was sold yesterday to another owner in town, and essentially the entire staff was let go,” read the beginning of a Facebook post by Todd Klaassen, a meteorologist who was laid off from the station. Its new owner, Circle City Broadcasting — already the owner of WISH-TV in Indianapolis — bought it from Scripps for $83 million. An entire newsroom disappearing overnight is shocking, but for some, these layoffs don’t come as a surprise.

“Anytime there’s a merger between two major media corporations, they’re looking to cut costs,” said Victor Pickard, professor of media policy and political economy in the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. To manage the hefty debt companies take on for acquisitions, “they have to start cutting jobs left and right, and that’s not good for any of us,” he said. This same consolidation is happening in television markets across the country. Last month, for example, Nexstar laid off a number of employees at its television stations in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago ahead of its merger with Tegna, which