Convention Recap: Sean Lewis recalls TV career, encourages current journalists
The INBA Fall Convention in East Peoria on Sept. 26 was keynoted by former WGN-TV anchor Sean Lewis, who told the group how he fell in love with TV at a young age.
“You didn’t have to sit in an office,” he said. “You got to talk to people. You got to tell stories.”
He followed that love to UW-Milwaukee, to internships at KSTP in Minneapolis and WTMJ in Milwaukee, then to jobs in Fargo, Madison, Rockford, Richmond, CLTV and then WGN.
Then came Feb. 23 of this year, when Lewis was at work at WGN and got wind a fellow reporter had been let go. Another reporter messaged him that she was being called to HR. As a Union Steward, he offered to accompany her. As her meeting was ending, he had a bad feeling, and was asked to stay in the room.
Within a few minutes, he was back in the newsroom, putting his belongings in a box, surrounded by disbelieving and emotional co-workers.
Lewis was one of eight on-air talents let go that day, in what Nexstar has called a cost-cutting measure. Similar cuts happened at KTLA in Los Angeles and WPIX in New York. Stations throughout the group have laid off Technical Directors, Floor Directors, Writers, Photographers and Creative Service staff as well.
But Lewis was different than most, if not all, of those journalists.
“I did not have the pit in my stomach that I believe many of my colleagues did that day,” he said. “A few years ago I realized that the business was changing, and I started to explore what might come next. I was fortunate that this separation came at a time when my brain was already heading in a new direction.”
Forty-five days later, Lewis had a new job as Public Information Officer for the U.S. District Court in Chicago. He loves it (and says the judges love him!). He’s writing and telling stories and just completed a 10-minute story that’s reaching judges all over the country.
His new job is making him even more certain that journalism matters.
“Information is everywhere now,” Lewis said. “What is scarce is information that people can trust.”
He said AI should support human work and not replace it.
“Human judgment is not a flaw to be engineered out,” Lewis said.
He encouraged the journalists in the room to learn every tool they can, but to spend even more time on the human part. He also encouraged them not to surrender standards, and to be an advocate for the profession.
“One era is ending,” he said. “The next is not yet fully built. It’s actually an exciting time. It’s an opportunity.”