KTVU has announced, news director Ed Chapuis is leaving the San Francisco FOX affiliate.  Chapuis last day will be next Friday, January 18.

“We have an exceptional team of journalists here at KTVU,” said Chapuis.  “I am proud of everything we’ve been able to accomplish. As I leave, I am confident the KTVU Channel 2 News department will continue to thrive and succeed in delivering the highest quality news in the country.”

Before taking over the KTVU newsroom in February 2003, Chapuis was the news director at KCRA in Sacramento.

“Ed Chapuis has been an important part of the KTVU newsroom leadership for the past decade and we appreciate his contributions,” said Tom Raponi, KTVU-KICU vice president and general manager.  “We wish him the very best with his future endeavors.” Read more

Last week, a KPIX photographer was beaten and robbed of his camera while reporting from Oakland, the eighth violent incident involving a member of the media since April. The San Francisco Chronicle reports some stations are now taking precautions to protect crews in the field:

Several stations used private security after being harassed and attacked during Occupy demonstrations late last year in downtown Oakland. Ed Chapuis, news director at KTVU, said guards are now hired on a case-by-case basis, depending on the situation and whether a crew requests one.

Tracey Watkowski, vice president of news for KGO-TV, said her station is looking at private security and “evaluating it as an option.”

One reporter at a Bay Area television station, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said some videographers are refusing to do stories in Oakland. “It’s scary, there’s no doubt about it,” she said. “But we’re not going to stop covering news in Oakland.” Read more

Berkeley city councilman Jesse Arreguin recommended yesterday that city officials and San Francisco local news stations come together to “work out a solution” to noise disruptions caused by news helicopters, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Arreguin, who likened the noise to that of “a war zone,” is planning on penning a letter to area stations, asking that they carefully evaluate whether aerial coverage is necessary for reporting and that they consider flying helicopters at 1,000 feet or higher.

Ed Chapuis, the news director at KTVU, told the Chronicle the decision to use a helicopter for aerial coverage is always a careful one. Read more

Longtime KTVU reporter Bob MacKenzie, who endeared himself to Bay Area viewers with his deft touch for storytelling, died on Thursday following a long battle with cancer.  He was 75.

MacKenzie joined KTVU in 1978 and spent more than three decades working as a feature reporter for the station, where he won 13 local Emmys and dozens of other awards.

“For more than 30 years, Bob’s stories graced KTVU’s newscasts and stood out like gems,” said KTVU news director Ed Chapuis. “His writing was witty and masterful. His expert use of words, paired with natural sound and moving images, evoked a sense of great artistry as much as great journalism.” Read more