Challenges face News Director in changing news culture in Norfolk

This the second in a series of episodes of WOUB’s Spectrum podcast focusing on the importance of local television news in our news consumption.

Allison Herman is a young news director. She only graduated from journalism school at Ohio University in 2010 yet she has climbed the ranks quickly in the news busines.

Already in her brief career, she’s worked in Huntington-Charleston, West Virginia, Louisville, Indianapolis, and Raleigh-Durham until she landed at WTKR-News3 in Norfolk, Virginia in 2021.

About seven months ago, she was promoted to news director. In just a short time, she has changed the news coverage from leaning more towards soft news to a more hard-news format.

Allison endeavors to service a large sprawling geographic area taking in numerous cities along the Virginia coast. Her viewing area also includes the country’s largest naval base in Norfolk. The region is quite diverse, racially, and economically. It also includes urban and rural areas.

To meet the news needs of such a large and diverse footprint is a real challenge, according to Allison, but one that she happily embraces.

Hear how this young news director attacks her job every day and get a glimpse of what it’s like behind the scenes in a local new room.

Listen to how reporters, photographers, editors, directors, and producers work together to bring you the latest in local news.