Debbie Bush � a veteran of 26 years in broadcast journalism and current news director of E.W. Scripps-owned television stations in Kansas City, Mo. � has been appointed general manager of 14WFIE-NBC television station in Evansville.
She takes the new job on Aug. 20.
Bush, 45, will replace Lucy Himstedt at the local station, said Marty Edelkman, vice president/television of 14WFIE�s parent company, Alabama-based Raycom Media, on Thursday.
Himstedt, 47, recently left the local station for undisclosed reasons after working there since the late 1990s.
Bush presently is news director at KSHB-Action News NBC and at KMCI-TV, an independent station, both in Kansas City, Mo.
Both stations are owned by Cincinnati-based E.W. Scripps, which also owns the Evansville Courier & Press and its EBJ (Evansville Business Journal).
Will it feel strange to be competing with a newspaper owned by her former employer?
�I never think of (the electric media) competing against a newspaper. I feel they�re both different,� she said.
�It (14WFIE) is the next step in my career,� she said.
In Kansas City, Bush has overseen a staff of 70 associates in the news department and six news managers.
The Evansville station includes around 100 associates.
�Debbie�s very successful news track record in both large and small markets, along with her excellent leadership ability, makes her the logical choice to lead a strong television station to new heights,� Edelman said. Bush said she had not worked before for a Raycom-owned affiliate. She said she had no specific changes in mind for 14WFIE.
�It�s a great station but it�s in a competitive market and I want to make sure we stay aggressive and competitive,� Bush said.
She said she likes investigative journalism and thinks all the media, including electronic and print, should be doing more of it.
Bush will be no stranger to Indiana. Before going to Kansas City five years ago, she worked in television news management in Indianapolis.
�I absolutely adored Indiana. So when the opportunity came up for me to come to Evansville, I was thrilled,� Bush said.
She attended Kansas State University Journalism and Communication School in Manhattan, Kan., and started her career as a reporter in Topeka, Cedar Rapids and Wichita.
She also formerly held news management roles in Santa Barbara, Calif., and Pittsburgh, Pa.
�So far, I�ve spent half of my career as a reporter and half as an administrator. Now I look forward to the next phase as general manager,� said Bush.
She last anchored news in 1993. She said she will be doing on-air editorials for WFIE.
Bush said she most enjoys mentoring people and watching them grow. She decided at age 5 that she wanted to go into television, she said, inspired by Walter Cronkite and Barbara Walters.
Her husband, Scott Cooper, is a Sprint administator.
