CBS News and Stations adds Crime and Public Safety Unit, hires NBC News vet to lead

CBS News and Stations has hired Anna Schecter Zigler, to be senior coordinating producer for its new Crime and Public Safety Unit.

Schecter Zigler will head up a team of dedicated journalists from across all CBS News and Stations units to identify, develop and produce distinctive content for crime and public safety issues for all programs and platforms.

“Crime and public safety are of the highest priority to our viewers and we’re committed to advancing reporting that will bring deeper insights and solutions on these issues across CBS News and Stations,” said Adrienne Roark, president of content development and integration, CBS News and Stations and CBS Media Ventures, in a statement. “Anna is a multi-level player who can report, produce and effectively lead teams to create engaging stories. We’re thrilled to have her on the team.”

Schecter Zigler will be based in New York and joins CBS June 17, 2024.

Schecter Zigler brings two decades of experience as a producer and journalist to CBS News. She has spent the past 13 years at NBC News, most recently as senior producer and head of special projects for the NBC News Investigative Unit. During her tenure at NBC, she oversaw multiplatform investigative projects featured on “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” “Dateline” and NBCNews.com. She was also a regular contributor to NBC News Now and MSNBC.

Before NBC News, Schecter Zigler was a producer with the ABC News Investigative Unit, where she produced impactful investigative reports for “20/20,” “Nightline,” “World News Tonight” and “Good Morning America.”

Schecter Zigler’s work has earned her numerous journalism honors, including a Peabody Award, a George Polk Award, and several News & Documentary Emmys.

“I am honored and excited to be joining the esteemed team of journalists at CBS News,” said Zigler in a statement. “In this new role I look forward to breaking stories that help shape our national conversation. I am eager to collaborate with the CBS Innovation Lab, CBS stations around the country, and CBS News powerhouse programs to shine a light for our viewers on issues that matter the most. CBS News delivers the most insightful coverage out there, and I feel privileged to be joining this extraordinary team.”

Advertisement

The Crime and Public Safety Unit is the latest in a series of beats that CBS News and Stations has created, including one on medical, health and wellness, one on weather and a fact-checking and misinformation unit branded as “CBS News Confirmed.”

CBS appears to be focused on creating dedicated units for high-interest and high-relevancy beats or journalistic specializations that allow its multiple owned stations and the network newsroom to pool resources to develop and share content.

Below is the full text of the memo Roark sent announcing the unit and hiring of Schecter Zigler.

Hello Everyone,

We’re excited to announce today the creation of our latest beat dedicated to crime and public safety.

This is the next step in our evolution to deepen coverage across CBS News and Stations in key areas. Crime and public safety stories matter greatly to individuals across the country, and investing in this centralized beat helps us advance our reporting in meaningful ways to serve the audience.

To head up this center of excellence, we’ve named award-winning journalist and producer Anna Schecter Zigler to the new role of Senior Coordinating Producer of Crime and Public Safety, for CBS News and Stations. Anna comes to us with more than two decades of experience as a producer and journalist. She’s spent the past 13 years at NBC News, most recently as Senior Producer and Head of Special Projects for the NBC News Investigative Unit. During her tenure at NBC, she oversaw multiplatform investigative projects that have been featured on NBC Nightly News, Today, Dateline and NBCNews.com. She was also a regular contributor to MSNBC and NBC News Now.

Anna will guide a team of dedicated journalists across CBS News and Stations to identify, report, and produce distinctive content for all programs and platforms. She will also report on-air for CBS News 24/7 and CBS News and Stations programs. She will be based in New York and begin on June 17, 2024.

Anna will be joined by Erin Cauchi, a seasoned producer from the CBS Reports team. Erin’s experience and dedication to the craft will contribute to the success of this new unit.

CBS News Correspondents Nikki Battiste, Jericka Duncan, Adam Yamaguchi and Stephen Stock, a correspondent from our Innovation Lab, are among those reporting for this unit.

The Crime and Public Safety unit will work closely with our Justice and Investigative teams. As with our other specialized beats, the idea is for this unit to provide a clear pathway for everyone to share ideas and create stories in these areas, fostering collaboration and enhancing our entire organization.

David, Chad, and I look forward to launching this new unit and working with all of our beats to continue to elevate the quality of content across our stations, broadcasts, and digital platforms.

Advertisement

Adrienne