Anna Schecter Zigler has been named senior coordinating producer for the new Crime and Public Safety Unit at CBS News and Stations. She will be based in New York and starts in the role June 17.
Adrienne Roark, president, content development and integration, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, called the Crime and Public Safety Unit “the next step in our evolution to deepen coverage across CBS News and Stations in key areas. Crime and public safety stories matter greatly to individuals across the country, and investing in this centralized beat helps us advance our reporting in meaningful ways to serve the audience.”
CBS News and Stations has been setting up content hubs around key issues, including medical and health, weather and climate, immigration and transportation. The initiative began in October and crime and public safety is seen as the final piece. Roark refers to the hubs as “centers of excellence” whose topics are driven by research. She told B+C “the goal has been to increase audience engagement and superserve our audiences where they are, on the topics that are backed by research.”
Asked for an example of the CBS News and Stations beat system working well on a big story, Roark mentioned the Baltimore bridge collapse in March. She cited the transportation, consumer and climate beats hustling on the story, with the data journalism department supplementing their reportage.
“All of these teams worked together to really own that story,” Roark said.
Schecter Zigler will guide a team of journalists from across all CBS News and Stations units to identify, develop and produce content focused on crime and public safety issues for all programs and platforms. She will also report on CBS News 24/7 and CBS News and Stations programs.
Schecter Zigler spent the last 13 years at NBC News, most recently as senior producer and head of special projects for the NBC News Investigative Unit. She has overseen multiplatform investigative projects featured on NBC Nightly News, Today, Dateline and NBCNews.com. She was also a regular contributor to NBC News Now and MSNBC.
“Crime and public safety are of the highest priority to our viewers and we’re committed to advancing reporting that will bring deeper insights and solutions on these issues across CBS News and Stations,” Roark said. “Anna is a multilevel player who can report, produce and effectively lead teams to create engaging stories. We’re thrilled to have her on the team.”
Roark told B+C Schecter Zigler “brings the sourcing, the storytelling and the innovation, and brings it all together into one fantastic leader.”
Before NBC News, Schecter Zigler was a producer with the ABC News Investigative Unit.
“I am honored and excited to be joining the esteemed team of journalists at CBS News,” said Schecter Zigler. “In this new role I look forward to breaking stories that help shape our national conversation. I am eager to collaborate with the CBS Innovation Lab, CBS stations around the country, and CBS News powerhouse programs to shine a light for our viewers on issues that matter the most. CBS News delivers the most insightful coverage out there, and I feel privileged to be joining this extraordinary team.”
Schechter Zigler will be joined by Erin Cauchi from the CBS Reports team. CBS News correspondents Nikki Battiste, Jericka Duncan, Adam Yamaguchi and Stephen Stock, a correspondent from the CBS News and Stations Innovation Lab, are among those who will report for the crime unit.
Roark singled out David Reiter, CBS News executive producer, special events, and Chad Cross, VP, content development, CBS News and Stations, for their roles in getting the “centers of excellence” rolling. “This was our vision,” she said, “and they have been phenomenal in getting this executed.”
