Bumped Up to the Big Chair

We also love seeing when stations promote the News Director to a GM job. Let’s face it, it’s better than some sales dweeb getting the gig.

Gray Television announced today that Ronna Corrente, the General Manager of Gray’s WVUE Fox 8 in New Orleans, Louisiana, will become the General Manager of Gray’s WAVE 3 in Louisville, Kentucky. She will be succeeded by WVUE Fox 8’s current News Director, Mikel Schaefer, who in turn will be succeeded by the station’s current Assistant News Director, Kristen Palestina. All three promotions are effective September 7, 2021.

Mikel Schaefer started his career in broadcast journalism while still in college in 1984 at the CBS affiliate in New Orleans. He held numerous positions at that station before moving to WVUE in November 2008 to become the station’s News Director. Under Schaefer’s leadership, WVUE-TV doubled the local news production.