KSAT Launches New Community-Oriented News Campaign, 'Know My Neighborhood'

KSAT-TV is continuing its long-serving promise of dedication to the San Antonio and South Texas communities by introducing a new, inside perspective and guided tour of area neighborhoods, conducted by people who know it best, the residents.

Each month, Know My Neighborhood takes viewers on a walk through a different South Texas community, showcasing the history and public safety concerns including food insecurity, police presence, and crime rates, and revealing neighborhood mysteries that many are unaware of.

KSAT launched the first Know My Neighborhood on Oct. 18, giving viewers a deeper look into the Westwood Square community of north San Antonio. This segment alone heard the voices of dozens of residents, sparking cries of food insecurity, school, and crime issues.

Conducted by residents, for residents – Know My Neighborhood’s mission is to bring a voice into each community that makes up our home here in South Texas, spotlighting what needs to be changed, and bringing awareness to the problems many have left forgotten.

The campaign was recently featured on TVNewsCheck, as seen here.

"'Know My Neighborhood' is San Antonio's story. Grassroots, local journalism that will serve as our newsroom blueprint for future coverage. As a lifelong San Antonian, I know the pride people have for their neighborhoods. I love that our team is highlighting the history, listening to the people, and getting the answers they demand,” said KSAT News Director Mario Orellana.

Know My Neighborhood segments are set to run every month on Wednesdays during KSAT's 6 p.m. newscast. In addition to on-air segments, an interactive web page takes viewers through an even more detailed breakdown of neighborhood challenges, with breakout and story links to each struggle many neighbors face.

“We are getting out in our local communities and covering the things that really make a difference in people’s daily lives. We are 100% committed to our audience and the well-being of their families. Bottom line we want to make a real difference,” said KSAT Vice President and General Manager, Ashley Parker.

Ashley Parker named Vice President, General Manager of Graham Media Group's KSAT-TV

Graham Media Group, the local media division of Graham Holdings Company (NYSE: GHC), announced today that Ashley Parker has been named Vice President and General Manager of KSAT, the ABC broadcast affiliate television station in San Antonio, Texas, effective October 1, 2022.

Parker replaces Phil Lane, who was recently named Vice President and General Manager of KPRC.

Parker has held the role of General Sales Manager at KSAT since 2013. In her 19 years at the station she has been Local Sales Manager, Digital Sales Manager and an Account Executive.

“Ashley has been an integral part of KSAT’s success, helping spearhead major station initiatives and driving KSAT to achieving greater revenue goals year after year,” said Catherine Badalamente, President and Chief Executive Officer, Graham Media Group. “Her commitment to transforming the business and leading KSAT into the future, is, and has always been, a top priority.”

“I am honored and humbled to have this amazing opportunity to lead KSAT,” said Parker. “It has been a lifelong dream that is coming true. I am excited for the future of broadcast television and look forward to serving the San Antonio community through our relentless commitment at KSAT.”

Prior to joining KSAT in 2003, Parker was at KIII/ABC affiliate in Corpus Christi, and KRBC/NBC affiliate in Abilene, Texas. She is a member of the San Antonio Women Leaders Association.

'KSAT Explains' honored as Best Local TV News Magazine by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation

Myra Arthur and Valerie Gomez

San Antonio's first in-depth local streaming program has been honored with a national award recognizing the work of KSAT's talented team of journalists.

The Alliance for Women in Media Foundation named "KSAT Explains: What you need to know about protective orders in Bexar County" a Gracie Award winner for best Local TV News Magazine.

Watch the award-winning episode here.

In the episode, the KSAT Explains team -- anchor/producer Myra Arthur and editor/visualizer Valerie Gomez, creator Lexi Salazar and executive producer Brina Monterroza -- explored the issue of domestic violence in Bexar County.

It happens over and over again in San Antonio: Women, and men, are abused or killed at the hands of someone who claimed to love them. Domestic violence is a pattern created to intimidate and control a victim while simultaneously rooting itself in a new generation as children grow up witnessing that abuse or becoming victims themselves. In 2020, 17 people died at the hands of an intimate partner. There are tools in place that are supposed to help save lives, get survivors away from their abusers, and help them build better lives.

"That's why we chose to do this episode on protective orders," said Myra Arthur, anchor/producer for KSAT Explains. "We know our county has incredibly high rates of domestic violence, but a lot of people see the stats and respond with, 'Well, she should just leave.' The survivors we talked to explain why it's never that simple. Their stories are chilling and full of incredibly close calls. To see their bravery and strength now -- that's what we wanted victims in our community to know is possible. And how."

The station launched KSAT Explains in mid-2020 as an experiment to offer more in-depth exploration of important issues in our community than traditional newscasts allow.

Almost every episode highlights inequities in our community – whether they are social, economic or cultural – and often, these episodes explore potential solutions that the community is using to address those inequities.

“It is not a surprise to me that our amazing team from KSAT would be honored with an AWM Gracie Award,” President and Chief Executive Officer of Graham Media Group, Catherine Badalamente, said. “This group of standout women embody everything that the Gracies represent -- creating exemplary and influential work that will inspire generations of women to come.”

“I am so proud of our KSAT Team and their unrelenting, innovative spirit,” said Phil Lane, vice president and general manager of KSAT12.

This spring, KSAT Explains enters a new phase. The show will transition from streaming-only platforms to a new time on-air at 6:30 p.m. on KSAT 12.

It marks an opportunity for more viewers to see this reporting style that gives deeper context and perspective to what’s making headlines or introducing local stories for the first time. From topics such as illegal street racing to a symphony on strike and more, catch KSAT Explains at its new time in its new home in the coming weeks.

About KSAT Explains

KSAT Explains is an episodic deep dive into the critical issues, events and opportunities impacting our local community of San Antonio. It launched in mid-2020, and is designed for viewers who want more context and insight into the complexity of our city. The KSAT Explains team produces original programming designed for our livestreaming app, so it's a digital product that lives on KSAT+, KSAT.com, includes a companion email newsletter, and has a social media and podcasting presence across multiple platforms.

About The Gracies

The Gracies are presented by the Alliance for Women in Media Foundation (AWMF). The award program was created to recognize individuals in media who reflect the changing roles, issues and concerns of women. The Gracies recognize individual achievement and exemplary programming created by, for, and about women in all facets of media and entertainment. AWMF is a charitable nonprofit that creates educational programs and scholarship initiatives to benefit the public and women in media.

KSAT-TV recognized for innovation after building digital newscast from scratch

KSAT-TV in San Antonio is setting the standard for excellence when it comes to digital innovation.

The station realized it had a huge opportunity on its hands, and recently decided to create a brand-new newscast at 9 p.m. to be live-streamed on its OTT channel.

The Knight-Cronkite News Lab -- which is a joint effort between the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University -- works to discover and share experiments from local TV newsrooms around the country. And the news lab is now profiling KSAT and its digital newscast, which the team built from scratch.

The story addresses how the show got off the ground: there were several challenges. For starters, KSAT didn’t really have a space to produce this show. The 10 p.m. broadcast needed the studio and control room to get ready for air. So News@9, as the new program is called, moved out into the newsroom — new set, production area, cameras, prompter, lights and all.

“We are smack dab in the middle of the newsroom,” the show’s anchor, Myra Arthur, told the news lab. “The set is not even five feet behind my desk, so everyone is working and talking around me. And I think that just lends itself to a show that’s a little more conversational and a little more off-the-cuff.”

The story addresses other technical challenges, workflow challenges and the need to create "something completely different."

"It’s one thing to come up with grand ideas about innovation, but it’s an entirely different thing to actually execute on them," the article says.

Hats off to our colleages in San Antonio!

Check out the new lab's article in full.

KSAT Community intiative produces "Week of Giving" for Texas disaster relief

KSAT12 mobilized several forces to help with Hurricane Harvey relief, just as the South Texas coast was trying to recover, and Houston was facing the wrath of the storm. 

"Our 'KSAT Community' project was built to respond to just such relief efforts," said KSAT12 VP/General Manager Phil Lane, "We have the ability to quickly mobilize our community partners to deliver help when and where it is most needed."

As the flooding waters were invading Houston, KSAT12 produced a "week of giving" holding several relief efforts which netted huge responses.  The first effort launched on the Monday after the Texas coast was blasted with very high winds. 

KSAT12 held a Red Cross Donation Line and raised over $80,000 in just a couple of hours.  Then, later in the week, the station held a food drive with the San Antonio Food Bank and collected over 200 thousand pounds of food and other necessities to keep shelters stocked with items for evacuees.

KSAT12 also contacted our Graham Media Group sister station, KPRC 2 in Houston, to help with their needs.   A blood drive with one of our KSAT Community partners was set up to respond to the need for donations throughout the region.