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ABC Owned Television Stations Announce Its Race and Culture Content Team Dedicated to Inclusive Storytelling and Collaboration Across Its Eight Owned Stations
New Team of Diverse Storytellers Examine Social Issues, Historical Context and Celebrate Heritages, Cultures and Common Humanity
ABC Owned Television Stations announce a race and culture content team of diverse storytellers dedicated to inclusive storytelling. The team’s mission is to amplify the voices of the underrepresented and marginalized communities while celebrating their heritage and triumphs through multiplatform, high-impact content for daily news coverage and special projects across its markets of New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Houston, Raleigh-Durham and Fresno. They include executive producers Nzinga Blake, Mariel Myers, Porsha Grant, and multiskilled journalists Crystal Cranmore, Anabel Munoz, Will Jones, TaRhonda Thomas, Cory McGinnis, Julian Glover, Akilah Davis, Linda Ha.
Blake, Myers and Grant will work closely with the station group’s newsrooms to identify culturally relevant topics to include in the more than 400 hours of live news programming produced each week. Cranmore, Munoz, Jones, Thomas, McGinnis, Glover, Davis and Ha will capture hyperlocal stories that accurately reflect the voices and experience of diverse communities. The multiskilled journalists are embedded at each of the eight owned stations and play a crucial role in developing community relationships for deeper reporting.
“Embedding a content team across our stations which ensure intentional inclusion of balanced coverage underscores our commitment to inform and reflect the communities and audiences we serve,” said Wendy McMahon, president, ABC Owned Television Stations. “ABC is committed to featuring the stories and experiences of richly diverse communities that often go untold and yet bring an incredible perspective that must be heard.”
“Furthermore, we are just as committed to having a culture where diverse representation matters and is prevalent amongst our storytellers and behind the camera,” added Maxine Crooks, vice president of Talent Development.
Last year, ABC Owned Television Stations surveyed its viewers. The results revealed their audiences want to see more inclusive content. This led to the production of the first-of-its-kind docuseries, “Our America: Living While Black,” which aired across the eight stations and its connected TV apps.
“We continue to have ongoing and necessary conversations about diverse programming and representation,” said Jennifer Mitchell, senior vice president of Content Development, ABC Owned Television Stations. “Our viewers are responding positively. In fact, when we produced the first installment of the “Our America” series “Our America: Living While Black,” several of our stations received letters from community members expressing deep gratitude for taking the time to shine a light on the lives of Black Americans.”
The race and culture team has already produced various stories across the group including exclusive content for its connected TV apps. For Black History Month, they premiered “Our America: Hidden Stories,” a new series that highlights hidden histories by exploring people, places and events of historically underrepresented and marginalized communities that have contributed significantly to society but are not usually taught in classrooms or mentioned in history textbooks. And most recently, for Women’s History Month, they produced the second installment of the “Our America” series, “Our America: Women Forward,” a documentary that celebrates women across the country, sharing their stories of perseverance, hope and triumph.
Examples of race and culture content that aired across the station group:
| ABC’S OWNED STATIONS | RACE & CULTURE JOURNALISTS |
| WABC-TV NEW YORK | Crystal Cranmore |
| KABC-TV LOS ANGELES | Anabel Munoz |
| WLS-TV CHICAGO | Will Jones |
| WPVI-TV PHILADELPHIA | TaRhonda Thomas |
| KTRK-TV HOUSTON | Cory McGinnis |
| KGO-TV SAN FRANCISCO | Julian Glover |
| WTVD-TV RALEIGH DURHAM | Akilah Davis |
| KFSN-FRESNO | Linda Ha |
About ABC Owned Television Stations
Walt Disney Television’s eight owned ABC stations are multiplatform leaders in local news and information. Collectively No. 1 across all U.S. television, reaching 23% of households and more than 34 million Total Viewers and 62 million digital visitors a month, the eight stations are comprised of WABC-TV New York, KABC-TV Los Angeles, WLS-TV Chicago, WPVI-TV Philadelphia, KGO-TV San Francisco, KTRK-TV Houston, WTVD-TV Raleigh-Durham and KFSN-TV Fresno. The stations also deliver locally sourced storytelling to more than 14 million viewers across America through its digital-first national lifestyle brand and broadcast channel, Localish. Most recently, the stations received five Broadcast & Cable awards, including in the 2020 Best in Local TV Awards category as Station Group of the Year for its innovative and next-generation news reporting, and in the major market category for 2020: Best News Coverage, Best Digital Multiplatform or Website, Best Investigative Reporting Station Group and Best Public Affairs Programming, illustrating the group’s strength and ever-increasing growth and reach in the multiplatform space.