‘Priorities collide’ for Tribune Media news chief — so she quits

Katherine Green

Katherine Green

Citing the “seemingly endless wheel of travel” her job entailed, Katherine Green has called it quits after seven months as senior vice president of news for Tribune Media.

A Tribune Media spokesman confirmed that Green resigned from the company, where she was responsible for overseeing news production and news operations for 42 television stations, including WGN-Channel 9 in Chicago. No replacement has been named.

It’s the second time in recent years Green has cited family reasons for relinquishing a position. In November 2013 she stepped down as senior vice president and managing editor of HLN Network “to be a full-time mom” before the arrival of her second child.

“Sometimes professional priorities collide with personal priorities,” Green wrote in a memo posted Saturday by FTVLive.com. “That is the case with the role I occupy at Tribune.  The seemingly endless wheel of travel has created a difficult situation for me and for my family.  I am not one to compromise on what I hold important and this position is causing me to compromise far too often.”

At the time of Green’s appointment last May, Larry Wert, president of broadcast media for Tribune Media, called her “a visionary leader whose background in local broadcasting and news programming will bring value to our station’s broadcast and digital newsrooms.”

Before joining HLN in 2011, Green had spent three years as senior vice president and general manager of CNN International Network. She previously was news director at WTTG-TV, the Fox-owned station in Washington, D.C., and WBAL-TV, the NBC affiliate in Baltimore, and was a producer at stations in New York, Miami and Tampa, Florida.

“It was not an easy decision,” Green told colleagues of her decision to leave. “There are some very good people within Tribune, creating great news programming in a challenging environment.  I truly enjoyed working with you.  I wish you the very best of luck.”