News 12 – “hyperlocal coverage” – downsizes with dozens of staff cuts.

Thanks to MC for pointing me towards this. Of interest to some people who follow local (yawn) news.

An earthquake hit local broadcast journalists across the New York metropolitan area this week as News 12 carried out sweeping layoffs that gutted newsrooms, eliminated dozens of jobs and sharply scaled back hyperlocal coverage, The Post has learned.

One employee who was laid off this week described a restructuring that effectively dismantles News 12’s standalone operations in the Bronx, Brooklyn, Westchester and Connecticut, replacing separate local newscasts with a single regional broadcast featuring only brief local segments.

Long Island and New Jersey will continue producing separate broadcasts because they attract stronger ratings, according to the employee.

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“They’re basically going to combine” the regions into one shared newscast, one laid-off employee told The Post.

“If you were to turn on the TV in Westchester, you would start getting news from Connecticut and Westchester and the Bronx and Brooklyn kind of all in one half-hour show.”

A spokesperson for Altice USA, the parent company of News 12, told The Post: “Local journalism is changing, and News 12 is evolving with it.”

“As audiences increasingly consume news across platforms and formats, we are taking proactive steps to ensure News 12 remains strong, relevant, and sustainable for the future,” the spokesperson added.