Tegna senior vice president of news Ellen Crooke is retiring from the station group in January 2025.

Crooke joined Tegna when it was Gannett Broadcasting in 2002, and has led Tegna’s news team since 2014.

“Ellen’s dedication to quality journalism and growing and mentoring our news leaders will have a lasting impact on our team and the news business,” said Lynn Beall, EVP and COO of media operations. “As the leader of our news organization, Ellen has driven our content innovation efforts, launched VERIFY, crafted our Principles of Ethical Journalism and spearheaded the creation of several journalism trainings, including news leadership, storytelling and our Producer-in-Residence program. We thank her for working with us through a transition period and wish her all the best in her next chapter.”

“The work that TEGNA’s news and content teams produce every day is second-to-none and that is in no small part a result of Ellen’s leadership,” said Mike Steib, president and CEO. “We thank Ellen for her many contributions to TEGNA’s success and for her continued leadership.”

“Working with TEGNA’s journalists, photojournalists, producers, meteorologists and news leaders has been the honor of a lifetime,” said Crooke. “It has been my dream job to champion our journalists whose work truly matters. I look forward to continuing to work with the news organization and TEGNA’s leadership team through an important election season before retiring in January.”

Crooke was named senior vice president of news for Tegna in April of 2021 after serving as VP of news since September 2014. Previously, she held news leadership roles at WXIA in Atlanta, and at WGRZ in Buffalo. Earlier in her career, she was news director for WNDU in South Bend, Indiana and assistant news director for WHAS in Louisville, Kentucky.

She is the recipient of four National Edward R. Murrow Awards, including Overall Excellence, Best Newscast and two Continuing Coverage awards and multiple Southeast Emmy Awards, including Best Overall News Operation and Best Newscast. She served on the Radio Television Digital News Association (RTDNA) Board of Directors from 2017 to June 2024 and its Executive Committee for five years. She continues to work with RTDNA on the issue of trust in journalism.