KION News abruptly shut down its news department Tuesday after 56 years on the air, an employee told The Pajaronian.
According to Managing Editor & Anchor Jeanette Bent, the news team had just wrapped up their morning editorial meeting in their Salinas office when corporate executives gave them the news.
“We’ve been cleaning out our desks since,” she said.
The executives did not give a specific reason for the closure, but said they suggested it was a financial decision.
“We have such a talented group of people here,” Bent said. “And I have faith that these people are going to go off and do good things.”
The closure also affects Telemundo 23.
About 20 people were affected by the closure, Bent said.
St. Joseph, Mo.-based News-Press & Gazette Company, which owns KION, did not return a request for comment.
On its website, KION said it is partnering with KPIX CBS San Francisco to bring news coverage to the Central Coast.
Starting Tuesday at 5pm.
“CBS Bay Area is proud to serve viewers who call the Monterey Bay and Santa Cruz communities home, by telling their stories,” said Scott Warren, president and general manager of KPIX. “We are also excited for viewers to now see and experience their local weather forecasting in a more dynamic and accessible way through our cutting-edge AR/VR presentation technology.”
This is a very concerning development for local news coverage on the Central Coast. Losing an entire team of dedicated, local journalists and replacing them with news piped in from San Francisco is nothing short of a tragedy. Don’t get me wrong. KPIX has a solid local news product, and covers a number of stories that other Bay Area stations don’t. But are they realistically going to be able to keep that up now that they need to start covering the Central Coast’s local news as well? Important and unique stories from both regions will go unreported because there simply won’t be enough people power or airtime to go around. No one in Northern California is coming out a winner with this decision. As for KSBW, I hope that they step up their efforts to cover the Central Coast since they will be the only truly local station left for Salinas, Monterey, Santa Cruz, Hollister, Watsonville, and surrounding areas. They do a decent job already, but now there is more to be done. This goes double for Salinas, where, last I knew, the newspaper is down to either zero reporters or just one reporter. The Central Coast needs and deserves high quality local news coverage. This is a very dark moment for the region. I wish everyone who was laid off from KION all the best in finding new jobs. None of them deserved what happened to them today.