When we report stories, we work very hard to get different perspectives on the issues involved. The same holds true for the Inside KWWL blog. We’ve invited many of the leaders in our newsroom to participate. To help you understand their points of view, here’s a bit about each of them:
Jon Okerstrom is the News Director for KWWL. As the department leader, he is involved in every aspect of the operation, from the daily journalistic work to personnel, budgeting and planning.
Brooke Beckner is the Executive Producer for KWWL News. In this role, Brooke oversees newscast producers and reporters and is deeply involved in daily content decisions. Brooke also drives the content on KWWL.com and plays a leadership role in special projects including elections.
Jason Mortvedt is the Assignment Manager and Special Projects Reporter for KWWL News. Jason is our newsroom’s primary contact for people asking for news coverage. He also manages the logistical part of our operation, including assigning crews and equipment to the stories we cover.
Ron Steele is co-anchor of the KWWL News Live at Five, Six and Ten. After serving more than three decades at KWWL, Ron really needs no introduction. He is an award-winning journalist with the kind of local knowledge, community connections and experience that add great value to our newscasts every day. Like the rest of us, Ron is passionate about quality and integrity.
Tara Thomas is co-anchor of the KWWL News Live at Five, Six and Ten. Tara recently joined Ron on the anchor desk, after co-anchoring Today in Iowa and the KWWL News at Noon. Tara’s specialty is medical reporting. She’s very active in our newsroom and in our community.
Jeff Kennedy and Mark Schnackenberg are the leaders of the KWWL Weather Department. Both bring a great deal of local knowledge and experience to our forecasts on television and on KWWL.com. Mark writes a very popular weather blog on KWWL.com. Mark and Jeff will be commenting from time to time on our weather coverage decisions.
Rick Coleman is Sports Director for KWWL. Rick started as a McElroy Trust intern and now leads our team of sports reporters and photographers. When it comes to local sports, no broadcaster knows more.
We may invite other members of the KWWL team to write from time to time. If you have an issue or idea for a post, please feel free to contact us or post a comment.
Jon Okerstrom
News Director
Posted under From the Corner Office
This post was written by jjarvis on October 13, 2007
I enjoy everyone on the news …they are all wonderful..have no complaints about any of them..I would rather watch kwwl news anytime than any one else. keep up the good work
CAN’T RECEIVE YOUR SIGS. HAVE HAD A HD CONVERTER SINCE LAST FALL. RECIPTION HAS BEEN FINE UNTIL 17 FEB WHEN YOU WENT OFF THE AIR. ANY SOLUTIONS ?
BALDY
I am so sick of watching KWWL - located in Waterloo Iowa and instead of focusing on Waterloo you go all over the state. Are there no people who work in Waterloo to interview regarding the stories that you cover? You go to Dubuque, Iowa City and Cedar Rapids instead of staying here in Waterloo and interviewing the people that live here! I just watched 8 minutes of the news and it took 8 minutes for KWWL to mention Waterloo. Why don’t you just pack up and move to Cedar Rapids - since your stories focus on what happens there anyway! If I wanted to know what happens in CR or IC - I can watch KGAN or KCRG - as they focus on their community - unlike KWWL!
Oh - and don’t give me the excuse that you cover all of eastern Iowa - cause last time I checked - that includes Waterloo!!