This Annual EEO Public File Report is filed on behalf of WLS-TV (the "Station" or "ABC7") in compliance with the FCC's EEO reporting requirements.
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This report includes information from July 16, 2020 through July 15, 2021.
General Policy
WLS-TV has a longstanding commitment to a policy of equal employment and advancement opportunities for all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, gender, marital status, religion, age, national origin or citizenship status, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, status as a Vietnam era or special disabled veteran, or any other protected characteristic as established by law.
This commitment to fair employment practices applies to every aspect of the employment process to ensure that equal consideration is extended to all employees and applicants in recruitment, selection procedures, employee development, performance evaluation, promotions, transfers, benefits and other aspects of employment.
It is WLS-TV's policy to promote the realization of equal employment opportunity through a positive, continuing program of specific recruitment, outreach, hiring, promotion and other practices designed to ensure the full realization of equal employment opportunity.
Responsibility
John Idler, President and General Manager of WLS-TV, is in charge of the implementation and administration of the Equal Opportunity Programs and the accuracy of the information in this report, which was drafted by Dorothy Mathias, Business Admin Analyst of WLS-TV.
Job Vacancy Information
WLS-TV is an equal opportunity employer that is committed to meeting and surpassing the Station's EEO information dissemination obligations. Notices of all full-time job vacancies were posted on the Station's website and on the website of The Walt Disney Company, its ultimate parent company. Notices of full-time job openings were also distributed to the Illinois Broadcasters Association and the Station's Recruitment Source List, which is made up of other professional groups, including minority and women's organizations, that requested such notification or that the Station believed could be useful referral sources. See Attachment A, for the Station's Recruitment Source List, (including names, addresses, contact names and numbers of the organizations to which the Station directly sends notices of job openings).
The Station will continue to actively seek out new recruitment sources to ensure that word of all job openings is distributed to a broad pool of potential applicants.
Positions Filled
During the reporting period (July 16, 2020 through July 15, 2021), WLS-TV filled ten full-time job vacancies. Job-specific recruitment sources are itemized in Attachment B below.
Supplemental Non-Vacancy Specific Outreach and Recruitment Measures
(A) Internship Program: WLS-TV is continuing to offer internships during each fall, winter/spring and summer sessions to college and university students. An internship generally lasts 12-15 weeks, with each student working about 20 hours per week for school credit. The internship program is administered by Disney Campus Recruitment. Information about the internship program is also posted on the Station's website.
Those who have successfully completed the Station internship program have often received paid positions in broadcasting after graduation. By way of example:
In 2017, three former interns were hired by WLS-TV - two as freelance Production Assistants in Programming and one as a part time Desk Assistant in News. One former intern was hired as a Weekend News Anchor and another former intern was hired as a News Producer at other television stations.
In 2018, one former intern was hired by WLS-TV as a freelance Production Assistant in Programming and one former intern was hired as a Production Assistant for a radio news program. Three former interns were hired at other television stations; one as a Desk Assistant/Field Producer, one as a reporter and one as a Senior Producer.
In 2019, one former intern was hired as a Production Assistant at another television station, one former intern was hired as a Multi-Media Journalist at another television station, four former interns were hired by WLS-TV as freelance Production Assistants in Programming and one former intern was hired by WLS-TV as a staff News Reporter. One former intern, who had been hired by WLS-TV as a freelance Production Assistant in Programming was promoted to a staff Producer in Programming.
In 2020, one former intern was hired as a Videographer & Editor at a Production company, one former intern was hired as a Media Apprentice for Image and Sound, and another former intern was hired as a Floor Director/Production Assistant at another television station.
See Attachment C for a description of internship opportunities and a list of the schools the interns attended.
(B) Career Days: Over the past year, some of the Station's on-air-talent and managers have given in person and virtual broadcast career-oriented talks sponsored by educational or community groups:
Terrell Brown - News Anchor
AAJA JCamp - (Virtual) - July 11 to July 17 2021
Samantha Chatman - News Reporter
William H. Ray Elementary School - Chicago, IL - May 24, 2021
Barack Obama Learning Academy - Markham, IL (Both) - May 13 & May 25 2021
Larry Mowry - News Anchor
Gregory Middle School - Naperville, IL (Virtual) - February 22, 2021
Elmhurst Academy of Early Learning - Elmhurst, IL (Virtual) - February 24, 2021
St. Petronille School - Glen Ellyn, IL (Virtual) - May 27, 2021
Roz Varon - News Anchor
Liberty Elementary School - Cicero, IL (Virtual) - May 7, 2021
Columbus East Elementary School - Cicero, IL (Virtual) - May 20, 2021
Valerie Warner - WCL Host
Southland College Prep High School - Richton Park, IL (Virtual) - December 9, 2020
(C) Station Tour: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this was paused as outside visitors could not be let inside the building.
(D) Job Fairs: From August 9, 2020 thru August 15, 2020 the Station virtually attended the Asian American Journalists Association Convention. Executive Producer Wilson Toy, who has partial responsibility for hiring decisions, attended and collected resumes of potential job applicants. Mr. Toy reviewed applicant reels and counseled journalists on what hiring managers hope to see when screening audition tapes.
From August 5, 2020 thru August 8, 2020 the Station virtually participated in the National Association of Black Journalists Convention. VP & News Director Jennifer Graves, who has responsibility for hiring decisions, attended and collected resumes of potential job applicants. Cheryl Burton, OTV-WLS Chicago, Anchor also participated as a speaker about her insights on the future of storytelling.
On August 5, 2020 thru August 8, 2020 the Station virtually participated in the Hispanic Journalists Convention. Assignment Manager, Adriana Cortez, attended, met, and collected resumes of potential job applicants. Ms. Cortez reviewed resumes and critiqued their applicant reels.
(E) Media Trade Group Postings: During the reporting period, the Station sent its upper-level full-time job openings to several media organizations with substantial representation of women and minorities, such as the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and others listed in Attachment A.
Efforts to Improve Mailing List and Recruitment Methodology
In an effort to expand and improve its organizational mailing list, the Station aired a 15-second spot on both the analog and high definition simulcast channels as well as the Station's second high definition channel requesting that organizations interested in being added to our mailing list contact us. The 15-second spot aired once a month between July of 2020 and June of 2021 on the analog and high definition simulcast channels. The 15-second spot also aired once a month between July of 2020 and June of 2021 on the second high definition channel. This message is also posted on the Station's website.
WLS-TV is engaged in a continual effort to evaluate the effectiveness of its EEO outreach and recruitment program and to improve and refine it as needed by monitoring the responses that are received and ensuring that the interviewing pool for the positions it fills includes a large number of qualified applicants from diverse sources. WLS-TV continually modifies and regularly expands its recruitment program as needed to fulfill these goals.
ATTACHMENT A
WLS-TV RECRUITMENT SOURCE LIST
For the Entire Period 07/16/20 - 07/15/21
Bright Horizons - 500 West Monroe Street - Chicago, Illinois 60661
Contact Gina Barnes - Phone (312) 876-8687
Email gina.barnes@brighthorizons.com
Chicago Urban League - 4510 S. Michigan Avenue - Chicago, Illinois 60653
Contact Joe O. Gray - Phone (773) 285-5800 - Fax (773) 285-7772
Contact Calmetta Coleman, CUL Newsletter; Andrew Wells, CUL Workforce Clients Email ccoleman@chiul.org ; AWells@chiul.org (updated 08/06/20)
City of Chicago Mayor's Office of Workforce Development - 1615 West Chicago Avenue - Chicago, IL 60622
Contact Anne Sheahan - Phone (312) 743-0300 - Fax (312) 743-0400
Email anne.sheahan@cityofchicago.org
Connecticut School of Broadcasting - 3901 Coconut Palm Drive - Suite 105
Tampa, FL 33619
Contact Shayna King - Phone (813) 443-5307
Email jobs@gocsb.com
Counseling for Special Needs Adults - 125 S. Wilke Rd - Arlington Heights, IL 60005
Contact Christine Santini - Phone (847) 212-8093
Email mcmayyy@aol.com
Emma Bowen Foundation - 524 West 57th Street - New York, NY 10019
Contact: Phylis Eagle-Oldson - Phone (212) 975-2545
Email Phylis.Eagle-Oldson @nbcuni.com
Family International Outreach Ministries, Inc. - 117 Fairlane Dr - Joliet, IL 60435
Contact Linda Weatherspoon
Email llwspoon@yahoo.com
Harold Washington College - 30 East Lake Street - Chicago, Illinois 60601
Contact Ollie Horan - Phone (312) 553-5667 - Fax (312) 553-3130
Illinois Center for Broadcasting - 455 Eisenhower Lane South, Lombard, IL 60148
Phone (630) 524-4628.
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Email dclark@beonair.com
Illinois Department of Employment Security - 33 South State St. - Chicago, IL 60603
Contact Melonie Morgan-Tyler - Phone (312) 793-1176
Email Melonie.Morgan-Tyler@illinois.gov
Joint Civic Committee of Italian Americans - 3800 W. Division Street -
Stone Park, Illinois 60165
Contact JoAnn Serpico - Phone (708) 450-9050 - Fax (708) 450-9065
Email jcc@jccia.com
Latino Council on Media - 2011 West Pershing Road - Chicago, Illinois 60609
Contact Mary Gonzalez-Koenig - Phone (773) 523-4380 - Fax (773) 247-3924
NAACP - 800 East 78th Street - Chicago, Illinois 60619
Contact Rev. James Demus - Phone (773) 487-9600 - Fax (773) 429-9834
Email westsidenaacp@gmail.com
NABET - CWA Local 41 - (National Association of Broadcast Employees & Technicians) 211 West Wacker Drive - Suite 1030 - Chicago, Illinois 60606
Contact Chris Willadsen - Phone (312) 372-4111 - Fax (312) 372-4115
Email christopherw@nabet41.org; jfabrizi@cwa-union.org;
Website NABET 41.org
NABJ Chicago Chapter (National Association of Black Journalists) - P.O. Box 811132 - Chicago, IL 60681.
Email secretary@nabjchicago.org
NAHJ Columbia Chapter (National Association of Hispanic Journalists) - 916 South Wabash, 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60605
Contact Tyler K. McDermott
Email hjc@loop.colum.edu
National Latino Education Institute - 2011 W. Pershing Road - Chicago, IL 60609
Phone (773) 247-0707 ext. 243
Contact Celia Lopez (Effective 10/24/19)
Email clopez@nlei.org
NLGJA (National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association) - 1420 K Street, NW
Suite 910 - Washington, DC 20005
Contact L. Spencer - Phone (202) 588-9888 - Fax (202) 588-1818
Email info@nlgja.org
Rainbow/PUSH Coalition - 930 East 50th Street - Chicago, Illinois 60615
Contact Candice Brown - Phone (773) 373-3366 - Fax (773) 256-2772
Contact Reverend Janette Wilson (updated 08/06/20)
Email revjwilson@rainbowpush.org
Restorative Justice Community Court - 3605 W. Fillmore Street - Chicago, IL 60624
Contact Jacquelyn Ingram - Phone (773)-588-0180 - Fax (773) 826-3620
Email jmjingram@gmail.com
Rona Mobley Wells Foundation - 3720 South Dearborn - Chicago, IL 60609
Contact Rona Mobley - Phone (312) 972-5332 - Fax (866) 850-0307
Email ronamiracle@yahoo.com
*Saint Sabina Employment Resource Center - 7825 S Racine Ave - Chicago, IL 60620
Contact Tony Tobias - Phone (708) 651-8629
Email Atobias@ercsabina.org
Effective 2/5/2021
*Transformation Learning Center - 1013 Desplaines Ave - Ste 203 - Forest Park, IL 60130
Contact Francine Anderson
Email Franderson59@gmail.com
Effective 4/20/2021
United Cerebral Palsy Association - 325 North Wells Street - Suite 321
Chicago, Illinois 60610
Contact Angela Welch - Phone (312) 464-1608- Fax (708) 863-3863
Women Employed - 65 E. Wacker Place- Suite 1500 - Chicago, Illinois 60601
Contact Maritza Gonzalez - Phone (312) 782-3902 - Fax (312) 782-5249
Email info@womenemployed.org
Youth Job Center of Evanston - 1114 Church Street - Evanston, Illinois 60201
Contact James Sibley - Phone (847) 964-5627 - Fax (847) 864-3098
* These organizations explicitly requested to be placed on the Station's Recruitment Source List
ATTACHMENT B
POSITIONS FILLED BETWEEN 07/16/20- 07/15/21
Listed below are the ten full-time positions filled at WLS-TV between 07/16/20 and 07/15/21 the recruitment methods used for each, and the sources of interviewed applicants.
Weekend Daypart Executive Producer
Date position was opened: 01/29/20
Date position was filled: 08/19/20
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Six people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: One applicant from the ABC 7 website, one applicant from OTV Talent VP, and four internal staff employee applicants. The candidate hired was an in house staff employee applicant.
Journalist, Race & Culture Unit
Date position was opened: 07/15/20
Date position was filled: 01/04/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Five people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: One applicant from the Disney Careers website and four internal staff employee applicants. The candidate hired was an in house staff employee applicant.
WCL - Associate Producer (2 positions)
Date position was opened: 08/17/20
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Date position was filled: 09/22/20
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Fifteen people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Nine applicants from the Disney Careers website, four part-time employee applicants, and two staff employee applicants. The one candidate hired was an in house staff employee applicant while the other candidate interned previously with us, then was brought on as a part-time employee until the candidate was hired into the above staff role.
Executive Director, Technology Stations
Date position was opened: 09/01/20
Date position was filled: 03/08/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website, and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Ten people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Two applicants were sourced, one industry referral, two applicants from the company career website and five internal applicants. The candidate hired was an employee referral.
Weekend Newscast Producer
Date position was opened: 01/05/21
Date position was filled: 04/30/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website, the AAJA website, and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Ten people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Five applicants from the ABC website and five referral applicants. The candidate hired was a referral applicant.
Weekend Assignment Editor / Desk Assistant
Date position was opened: 01/06/21
Date position was filled: 04/03/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website, the AAJA website, and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Ten people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Eight applicants from the ABC website and two internal daily employees. The candidate hired was an internal daily employee.
Broadcast IT Specialist
Date position was opened: 01/25/21
Date position was filled: 04/30/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Nine people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Seven applicants from the company career website and two sourced applicants. The candidate hired was from the website.
Special Projects Producer
Date position was opened: 03/02/21
Date position was filled: 06/16/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website, the AAJA website, and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Eleven people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Five applicants from the company career website, three were referral applicants, one daily hire applicant, and two staff applicants. The candidate hired was a referral applicant.
Multi-Skilled Journalist
Date position was opened: 04/23/21
Date position was filled: 05/20/21
The Station posted the position on the ABC7 website, the Disney Careers website, the tvjobs.com website, the AAJA website, and faxed or emailed a notice of the position to the organizations listed on Attachment A.
Seven people were interviewed. Referral sources of the candidates interviewed were as follows: Two applicants were through an agent, four applicants from the company career website and one from OTV Talent VP. The candidate hired was from the company career website.
ATTACHMENT C
INTERNS
The following is a description of internship opportunities at WLS-TV and a list of the schools that the station's 2020-21 interns attended.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic the internship program was paused from Mar 2020 to Sept 2020 and currently has become virtual for the time being.
NEWS DEPARTMENT
Brown University, Providence, RI May 2021 - August 2021
DePaul University June 2021 - September 2021
Florida International University May 2021 - August 2021
Northwestern University June 2021 - August 2021
University of Missouri September 2020 - May 2021
Interns are typically assigned to a reporter two days a week and to the news planning department one day a week.
While assigned to reporters, interns work on a variety of stories. Tasks include researching information and setting up possible virtual interviews.
The news planning department is responsible for collecting, researching and developing future news reports for the ABC7 news department. The planning editor and planning department researcher (regular staff employees) create a daily sheet, which lists possible reporting ideas. This list is then used the following day in the morning editorial meeting to decide which news reports will be covered. The planning department is also responsible for planning long-term stories, such as elections and political conventions.
News planning department interns assist the planning editor and researcher by, among other duties: answering phone tip lines, collecting and organizing possible future news reports. They are encouraged to contribute potential story ideas and attend the morning editorial meeting virtually when possible. The interns' duties also include conducting phone pre-interviews on potential interview subjects to determine the newsworthiness of any given story.
SALES / MARKETING DEPARTMENT
North Central College May 2021 - August 2021
The sales/marketing intern works for the Midwest Local Brand Solutions team that supports Disney Ad Sales Marketing Solutions to include ABC 7 Chicago, HULU and special efforts out of Brand Solutions in New York to include Nat Geo, FX and Disney Channel. Daily activities include high level client meetings to helping put together concepts and presentations for potential revenue opportunities.
CREATIVE SERVICES / PROGRAMMING DEPARTMENT
Augustana College May 2021 - August 2021
University of Illinois October 2020 - December 2020
University of Pennsylvania May 2021 - August 2021
University of Wisconsin-Madison May 2021 - August 2021
Wheaton College May 2021 - August 2021
Interns assigned to the creative services / programming department can be involved in two main areas of work:
Production
Publicity
PRODUCTION - Interns work closely with producers who are responsible for a wide variety of productions and programs scheduled to air on WLS-TV during their time of assignment. Interns can be directly involved in research, planning, screening
and editing of videotape. This is field and office experience. In both cases, interns act as production associates to the producers. The work is creative and deadline demanding, and provides an understanding of the work that goes on behind the scenes of studio-based live events and field-produced programs.
PUBLICITY - Interns work closely with the WLS-TV Station Publicist, in concert with the Program Director, in helping to cultivate and maintain a professional public profile in the greater community. Interns learn how press releases are written and how they are used to communicate both publicly and "internally" among other media outlets and allied
fields. Interns learn also to gather important information from various sources to help managers keep abreast of the marketplace. The work is information oriented and provides an understanding of the need for clear communication - publicly and internally.