{"id":12580,"date":"2016-10-19T10:30:03","date_gmt":"2016-10-19T15:30:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.robertfeder.com\/?p=12580"},"modified":"2016-10-19T15:20:11","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T20:20:11","slug":"nbc-5-news-director-perfect-choice-miami-promotion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/2016\/10\/19\/nbc-5-news-director-perfect-choice-miami-promotion\/","title":{"rendered":"NBC 5 news director \u2018perfect choice\u2019 for Miami promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Debra<\/a>

<\/a> Debra Juarez<\/p><\/div>\n

Debra Juarez, who guided the expansion and resurgence of WMAQ-Channel 5<\/a> during five years as news director, is leaving the NBC-owned station here to head digital operations for two of the parent company\u2019s stations in Miami.<\/p>\n

Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news at NBC 5, told staffers Wednesday that Juarez has been promoted to vice president, digital for NBC\/Universal\u2019s South Florida duopoly stations, WTVJ and Telemundo WSCV.<\/p>\n

Calling Juarez \u201cthe perfect choice\u201d for the new position, Whittaker cited her prior experience in Miami and extensive newsroom management in Chicago and Boston. He credited Juarez as an integral part of NBC 5\u2019s leadership team \"[whose] steady hand has guided our daily news operations. . . . On a personal level, I will miss her the most. She\u2019s been my right hand for the past five years, helping me run the newsroom and keeping me out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

A search will begin soon for a replacement as news director, Whittaker said. Juarez, who\u2019ll remain on the job here through the November rating sweep, officially starts in Miami on January 3.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is an exciting time in my career,\u201d Juarez said in a statement. \u201cI\u2019m thrilled to join the NBC 6 and Telemundo 51 news teams to further boost their digital operations and help each station deliver the news, information and content their viewers are clamoring for and across all platforms.\u201d<\/p>\n

Juarez has left her mark on two Chicago newsrooms. From 1993 to 2005 she served as vice president of news at Fox-owned WFLD-Channel 32.<\/a> She returned to become news director of NBC 5 in 2011. Between those jobs, she served as news director of New England Cable News, a 24-hour news channel in Boston, and president of Deca Productions, a firm she founded in west suburban Oak Park.<\/p>\n

A graduate of the University of New Mexico, Juarez previously worked as an executive producer at the Telemundo network and WSVN in Miami.<\/p>\n

\u201cDebra is no stranger to our market or the Telemundo family, and I\u2019m thrilled that she is joining our duopoly operation,\u201d Jorge Carballo, president and general manager of WSCV, said in a statement. \u201cViewers in our market are savvy digital users and by adding Debra to our teams, she will help our stations deliver the information that our viewers want and how they want it.\u201d<\/p>\n

During Juarez's tenure, NBC 5 expanded news on weekdays and weekends, and solidified its late-news ratings lead among viewers between 25 and 54. Earlier this year, the station was honored<\/a> with a George Foster Peabody Award for investigative reporting on the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald by a Chicago police officer.<\/p>\n

Here is the text of Whittaker\u2019s note to NBC 5 staff:<\/strong><\/p>\n

To all:<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nToday our sister stations WTVJ (NBC) and WSCV (Telemundo) in Miami are announcing the hiring of Debra Juarez as Vice President, Digital for the Miami duopoly.<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nThis is a very exciting promotion for Deb.\u00a0 It\u2019s the first time the digital operations of NBC and Telemundo stations will come under the leadership of one person.\u00a0Deb is the perfect choice.\u00a0\u00a0She\u2019s run newsrooms in Chicago and Boston, and has worked in several other markets including Miami.\u00a0Her\u00a0 extensive involvement with our digital team will be a great asset\u00a0 in her new role in Miami.<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nWe, of course, will miss her.\u00a0She\u2019s been an integral part of our leadership team.\u00a0Her steady hand has guided our daily news operations.\u00a0Under her direction, our investigative team has thrived, including winning a national Peabody award this year.\u00a0During her time here, we have also grown our ratings (most recently our winning streak in demos at 10p), expanded our news hours, and improved the quality of our newscasts.\u00a0Deb deserves much of the credit.\u00a0On a personal level, I will miss her the most.\u00a0She\u2019s been my right hand for the past five years, helping me run the newsroom and keeping me out of trouble.<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nDeb isn\u2019t leaving just yet.\u00a0She\u2019ll stay here through the November rating book, and will begin transitioning to her new job\u00a0 after December 2.\u00a0She\u2019ll officially start in Miami on January 3.\u00a0That will give us plenty of time to toast her for this big promotion in our company.<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nWe\u2019ll be posting for Deb\u2019s replacement soon. In the meantime, please join me in congratulating Deb on her promotion!<\/em>
\n\u00a0<\/em>
\nFrank Whittaker<\/em>
\nStation Manager & Vice President of News<\/em>
\nNBC 5 Chicago<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Debra Juarez, who guided the expansion and resurgence of WMAQ-Channel 5 during five years as news director, is leaving the NBC-owned station here to head digital operations for two of the parent company\u2019s stations in Miami. Frank Whittaker, station manager and vice president of news at NBC 5, told staffers Wednesday that Juarez has been... Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12580"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12588,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12580\/revisions\/12588"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12580"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12580"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/robertfeder.dailyherald.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12580"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}