CBS11 names Miami's Adrienne Roark as news director (updated with official station confirmation)

By ED BARK
CBS11 has a new news director, with Adrienne Roark of WFOR-TV in Miami getting the nod Wednesday afternoon.

Her scheduled start date is March 23rd, president and general manager Gary Schneider told staffers. The Fort Worth-based station hasn't officially announced her hiring yet, but it's a done deal. Roark also will oversee the newscasts on sister station TXA21.

Roark had joined Miami's CBS-owned station in January 2007 as assistant news director before being promoted to news director in June, 2008. She was identified as the front-runner for the CBS11 position in a Feb. 1st post on unclebarky.com.

Roark is an Ohio State graduate whose previous stops include WESH-TV in Orlando, WTVJ-TV in Miami and WKYC-TV in Cleveland. She also was a Poynter Ethics Fellow for the Class of 2008. Roark and her husband are the parents of two sons.

She replaces Scott Diener, who left CBS11 earlier this year to join his old CBS11 boss, Steve Mauldin, at KCBS/KCAL-TV in Los Angeles.

In a resultant news release confirming Roark's hiring, Schneider termed her "a natural fit for our news operation and stations . . . Adrienne also is a forward-thinking leader who is passionate about embracing new ideas and technologies."

Roark said in a statement, "I am honored to be given the opportunity to be a part of such a distinguished news team, and I have great respect for what KTVT and KTXA mean to the Dallas-Fort Worth community."

While still at WFOR, Roark also had this to say about how very seriously she says she takes her profession.

Reliable sources say that news director Kurt Davis of KENS-TV in San Antonio also was a finalist for the news director position. But that station is owned by Belo Corp., which also is the parent company of CBS11's arch rival, Dallas-based WFAA8.

Ultimately, a decision was made to hire from within the CBS corporate chain rather than go "outside," according to sources.