Latest news with #LisaFletcher
Business Wire
09-07-2025
- Health
- Business Wire
Sinclair's Spotlight on America Wins National Press Club Award for Investigative Series Toxic Inaction
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sinclair today announced that its Spotlight on America investigative reporting team has been honored with a prestigious National Press Club Award for the series Toxic Inaction, which uncovered alarming levels of toxic heavy metals in baby food and a lack of regulatory action to protect families. The award was presented in the Consumer Journalism category, which recognizes outstanding reporting that protects or informs consumers. The National Press Club Awards are among the most respected in journalism and are given annually to honor work that exemplifies the role of a free press in serving the public interest. Spotlight on America is Sinclair's national investigative reporting unit, producing in-depth, original accountability and enterprise reports and specials that air across Sinclair stations nationwide, as well as on The National News Desk. Toxic Inaction documented how government inaction has left millions of children vulnerable to exposure to toxic elements in products trusted by parents. The Spotlight on America team's year-long investigation prompted public awareness, legislative scrutiny, and renewed calls for federal reform. As a result of the reporting, Virginia and Maryland enacted laws that require baby food manufacturers to test their products for heavy metals and make those results available via a QR code on the label. In the spirit of Maryland's original bill, multiple other states are working on similar legislation. 'This recognition from the National Press Club underscores the power of investigative journalism to drive change and protect communities,' said Scott Livingston, Senior Vice President of News. 'Our Spotlight on America team is committed to shining a light on issues that matter and holding institutions accountable. We are incredibly proud of this work and the impact it continues to have.' The award-winning Spotlight on America team includes Nathan Aaron – Video Journalist, Matt Adams – Director, William Anderson – Executive Producer, Lisa Fletcher – National Investigative Correspondent, Mike Griffith – Video Journalist & Editor, Thomas Holt – Executive Producer, Aaron Hurley – Graphics Designer, and Andrea Nejman – Investigative Producer. 'We are tremendously proud of the Spotlight team and its continued work on this matter to pursue accountability and safety for children and families across the U.S.,' said Executive Producer Thomas Holt. 'Lisa Fletcher and Andrea Nejman have spearheaded this effort to inform the public and question authority, helping to facilitate meaningful change for our communities. This recognition of their dogged pursuits is well deserved.' About Sinclair: Sinclair, Inc. (Nasdaq: SBGI) is a diversified media company and a leading provider of local news and sports. The Company owns, operates and/or provides services to 185 television stations in 85 markets affiliated with all major broadcast networks; owns Tennis Channel, the premium destination for tennis enthusiasts; multicast networks CHARGE!, Comet, ROAR and The Nest; and the nation's largest streaming aggregator of local news content, NewsON. Sinclair's AMP Media produces a growing portfolio of digital content and original podcasts. Additional information about Sinclair can be found at Category: General
ABC News
03-07-2025
- Business
- ABC News
The University of Tasmania confirms up to 13 academic jobs will be cut as part of arts, humanities restructure
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) has confirmed a dozen jobs will be lost as part of a restructure of its arts and humanities courses. UTAS has said the proposed changes, flagged in May and which include the creation of a combined school of humanities and social sciences, were sparked by financial challenges and declining student enrolments across a range of arts and humanities offerings. On Thursday, the College of Arts, Law and Education's interim academic lead, Lisa Fletcher, said the creation of a combined school of humanities and social sciences would enable "a more coherent offering for our Bachelor of Arts students". Professor Fletcher said "two distinctive schools across the creative arts" would also be created as part of the restructure. Those will be the school of creative and performing arts, the home for art and theatre, and the re-establishment of a stand-alone conservatorium of music. Professor Fletcher said the final structure had been informed by five weeks of consultation, and that the university was "deeply committed to the viability and the strength of our disciplines across the creative arts and humanities and social sciences". She said there were "no courses being discontinued", but that some "adjustments" were being made to programs within the Bachelor of Arts. "Adjustments" include combining politics and international relations into a single major, and no longer offering German. The university's Indonesian offerings were initially flagged as being at risk, but will continue for at least six months. Professor Fletcher said roughly a dozen roles would be lost through the restructure, through a combination of targeted and voluntary redundancies. The voluntary redundancy process is underway. "We need to be committed to a viable offering across creative arts, social sciences and humanities, and in the proposal there are a range of redundancies proposed, up to 12 [full-time equivalent positions]," Professor Fletcher said. She said the redundancies would come from academic roles. "We will need to achieve those savings at the scale of around 12 to 13 FTE [full-time equivalent]," she said. National Tertiary Education Union division secretary Ruth Barton said the job losses were devastating for staff. "It's a great blow to the university and I think to the Tasmanian community," Dr Barton said. "These are people who have spent up to 40 years at the university, 25-40 years many of them. Dr Barton said staff feedback from the consultation period had not been reflected in the final product. "Staff have said that they need to have these jobs retained, they need to have these disciplines retained, they need to have an organisational structure that reflects what staff want. Instead they've had one imposed on them." Tasmanian University Student Association president Jack Oates-Pryor said student voices had not been sufficiently heard during the consultation process. "Of course we see key university leaders valuing student feedback and responses, responding to those emails directly. "However, that's not structural integration and embedding of student voice into this decision-making," he said. "Students are fundamentally impacted by these decisions that are being made. Professor Fletcher said the university's consultation process had been "genuine" and directly influenced the final plan. "And we will continue, and are committed to continuing, to work with our students and our staff to listen and to hear from them," she said.
ABC News
16-05-2025
- Business
- ABC News
Staff cuts and humanities department changes flagged at UTAS to address declining enrolments
The University of Tasmania (UTAS) will cut 13 arts and humanities staff and scrap dedicated tourism courses, as part of a proposed restructure. The university's proposal will merge the humanities and social sciences faculties into a single school, which would lead to some courses being discontinued. The 13 positions would be cut through targeted and voluntary redundancies. The restructure would also include dividing the School of Creative Arts and Media into two parts, and re-establishing the music conservatorium. The National Tertiary Education Union's (NTEU) Tasmanian secretary Ruth Barton told ABC Radio Hobart that university staff are feeling angry and disappointed. Professor Lisa Fletcher, UTAS Interim Academic Lead, College of Arts, Law and Education said financial challenges, workload issues, and declining student numbers in arts programs informed the decision to restructure. The ABC understands the university decided to discontinue the graduate certificate, graduate diploma and masters of tourism, environmental and cultural heritage in 2023. Professor Fletcher said the university is committed to delivering courses across the humanities, social sciences and creative arts. Undergraduate student Ally Brown is studying psychological sciences at UTAS, and a gender studies course. She said she felt the university's decision devalued and de-prioritised the arts and humanities faculties. "You feel a bit [on the] outer, for sure, doing a humanities degree because the uni doesn't care about it and UTAS isn't known for it," Ms Brown said. Dr Barton said students may be forced to move to the mainland to study subjects that aren't available locally. "If students want to do things like certain specialties or follow certain interests, their ability to follow those interests will be limited," she said. Ms Brown said this would be problematic due to the financial strain it may put on students. "A lot of people don't have the option to switch to a mainland uni financially," she said. There are a number of proposed changes to humanities and creative arts and media courses. The university has proposed to discontinue Asian Philosophy units in its Philosophy major, as well as Indonesian and German language studies. Up to three staff in the Arts department and one in the Theatre department will lose their jobs. Dr Barton said this decision was confusing for staff, as Tasmania has a prominent arts sector. Professor Fletcher said UTAS was committed to ensuring the continuation of arts — both creative and the humanities — in their proposal. "It is fundamental that we continue to offer those vital disciplines, not just for the career opportunities that they drive, but also because they lead to a better society," Professor Fletcher said. Dedicated tourism courses will also be cut. Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania (TICT) chief executive Amy Hills said she was disappointed UTAS would no longer have a dedicated tourism course. According to the state government, tourism contributes to $4.55 billion or 10.8 per cent of Tasmania's Gross State Product. The direct and indirect contribution of tourism in Tasmania to GSP is the highest in the country. "One in six Tasmanians are supported by the visitor economy," Ms Hills said. Professor Fletcher said students can still study a Bachelor of Business majoring in tourism or hospitality management. "Tourism is an important industry for Tasmania and the university continues to support the sector where we can add value," she said. The university's proposal will also see social work and psychology shift to the school of health. It would also see police and emergency management courses moved to paramedicine, with two roles within policing and emergency management to be axed. The university said it will carry out a four-week consultation period with staff about the proposed changes. Dr Barton said that the process is tokenistic. Ms Fletcher said the proposal period is "genuine".
