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Jennifer Mitchell – CBS News
CBS News
Jennifer Mitchell oversees station operations in 11 of CBS’ 17 markets, working closely with the stations’ general managers and their teams.
An expert in developing and leading audience-focused digital content strategies, Mitchell is a driving force of innovation across CBS Stations’ newsrooms, streaming and digital platforms. Additionally, she provides leadership and business support to the teams at the CBS-owned independent stations in Atlanta, Seattle and Tampa.
In Mitchell’s first two years with CBS Stations, she rolled out a strategic operations plan that included launching a nine-hour morning show on KCAL News on CBS Los Angeles and a community journalism team providing hyperlocal coverage across multiple Denver communities on CBS Colorado. Under Mitchell, the CBS-owned stations are experiencing momentous streaming success, moving to #1 or #2 in all markets. As a result, in 2023, CBS Stations was named “Station Group of the Year” by Broadcasting and Cable for the first time.
Mitchell’s expertise in driving innovation is further exemplified in her work at CBS Bay Area, where she collaborated closely with the general manager and station team to roll out an AR/VR weather forecasting and experiential storytelling program to report the weather in a first-of-its-kind format. The success of the AR/VR storytelling led to the recent launch of a CBS 24/7 flagship show, a first-of-its-kind all-AR/VR news show seen twice daily on the CBS 24/7 news stream.
Mitchell joined CBS Stations in September 2021 after 22 years at ABC Owned Television Stations as senior vice president of content development. She led the creation and execution of multiplatform content vision and strategies across the station group’s eight local stations. She created and launched the award-winning digital-native lifestyle brand Localish, and transformed it to long-form programming.
She also co-created ABC’s race and culture content team, hiring executive producers and multi-skilled journalists. She launched the award-winning inaugural docuseries “Our America: Living While Black” and led the creative and production of the first 10 “Our America” series, which covered essential topics impacting diverse communities while celebrating and amplifying their voices. Mitchell held several other leadership roles, including vice president of digital creative content. Her experience includes 15 years with KGO-TV, the ABC-owned station in San Francisco.
In 2020, Mitchell received the News Innovator of the Year award from the Local Media Association for leading the content strategies and original, digital content production for nonlinear platforms across the ABC Owned Television Stations and driving new content and revenue opportunities. In 2019, Mitchell was recognized by TVNewsCheck with the 2019 Innovator Award – the highest distinction among TVNewsCheck’s annual Social Media Excellence Awards.
Mitchell earned a bachelor’s in broadcast journalism and social psychology from Ithaca College. She is based on the West Coast.
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North Carolina governor’s race rocked by CNN report on Mark Robinson’s alleged incendiary comments
Editor’s note: This story contains highly offensive language.
Washington — North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, the Republican nominee for governor, posted a slew of incendiary, explicit and racist comments on a pornographic website more than a decade ago, according to a CNN investigation released Thursday that has shaken the state’s gubernatorial race.
The report focused on comments made by an account with the name “minisoldr” on a pornographic website called Nude Africa between 2008 and 2012. The account used the name “mark robinson” in its profile and a number of biographical details posted by the account line up with Robinson’s own history, according to CNN. The network reported that Robinson appeared to use the account name on other platforms over the years, including YouTube and Pinterest, and that the email address associated with the account belonged to Robinson.
On the Nude Africa forum, the user expressed a desire to “bring [slavery] back” and “buy a few” slaves, while identifying himself as a “black NAZI,” according to CNN.
“Slavery is not bad. Some people need to be slaves. I wish they would bring it (slavery) back. I would certainly buy a few,” the account wrote in a discussion about Black Republicans in 2010, according to CNN.
“I like watching tranny on girl porn!” the minisoldr account also posted on Nude Africa, according to CNN. “That’s f****** hot! It takes the man out while leaving the man in! And yeah I’m a ‘perv’ too!”
In March 2012, minisoldr posted a preference for Hitler over former President Barack Obama’s administration: “I’d take Hitler over any of the s*** that’s in Washington right now!”
Minisoldr also used racist language to vilify civil rights hero Martin Luther King Jr.
“I’m not in the KKK. They don’t let blacks join. If I was in the KKK I would have called him Martin Lucifer Koon!” the account posted in October 2011, according to CNN.
Reports emerged earlier Thursday that CNN was planning to publish a damaging story that could lead other Republicans to call on Robinson to drop out of the race. In a video posted to X before the CNN story was published, Robinson flatly denied that he said anything in the CNN report and insisted he won’t drop out. North Carolina will begin mailing ballots to members of the military and voters outside the U.S. on Friday.
“The things that you will see in that story, those are not the words of Mark Robinson,” Robinson said in his video. “You know my words, you know my character and you know that I have been completely transparent in this race and before.”
Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Robinson echoed those comments in an interview with CNN. “This is not us. These are not our words. And this is not anything that is characteristic of me,” Robinson said, adding that he wouldn’t “get into the minutia of how somebody manufactured this, these salacious tabloid lies” when presented with evidence that the account belonged to him.
Robinson, who is 56 and married with two children, has a history of inflammatory remarks that have widely circulated since he won the state’s Republican primary in March. Serving as North Carolina’s lieutenant governor since 2021, he gained prominence in Republican circles after he delivered a pro-gun rights speech that went viral and kickstarted his political career. He’s made inflammatory comments across a number of topics — from Islam to abortion to feminism — but he’s been especially vocal on LGBTQ+ issues.
If elected, Robinson would become the first Black governor of North Carolina. Former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Robinson for governor, has referred to him as “Martin Luther King on steroids.”
The lieutenant governor blamed the CNN report on his Democratic opponent, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.
“You all have seen the half truths and outright lies of Josh Stein,” Robinson said, claiming that Stein leaked the story to CNN.
The report’s release has spurred concern among Republicans about their nominee’s prospects in the coming election. Sen. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican, told reporters ahead of its release on Thursday that “North Carolinian voters are smart, and they know how to pick each and every candidate based on their own merits.”
When asked whether Robinson should step down, Budd said he didn’t have enough information.
“They’ve been assaulting him for years,” Budd said before the article was published. “We’re going to gather our facts through the weekend.”
contributed to this report.
Certain boxes of waffles sold at Costco Wholesale stores in the Midwest are being recalled because they may contain plastic, according to a notice by supplier Kodiak Cakes.
The recall involves Kodiak Power Waffles Buttermilk & Vanilla 40 count with the UPC code 705599019203 and a use-by date of Jan. 10, 2026, and only impacts products with the lot code 24193-WL4 and a time stamp of 12:00-23:00, according to the Park City, Utah-based company.
The recalled products were sold at Costco warehouses in 13 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin.
The action was initiated “due to the potential presence of soft plastic film,” according to Kodiak, which noted that no injuries or illnesses had been reported.
Those who purchased the recalled product can return it to their local Costco for a refund.
People with questions can email Kodiak at: flapjacks@kodiakcakes.com or call 801-328-4067. Messages will be returned between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mountain time, Monday through Friday.