Michelle Davidson and Michael Mackie will join KSHB in Kansas City as the co-hosts of a new daytime show launching this summer.

Davidson has previously worked at two Missouri stations: KOMU in Columbia and KYTV in Springfield. She anchored and reported at both stations. Mackie was most recently a senior writer and director at a Kansas City advertising and PR firm.

“We’re really excited about bringing this new show to our viewers,” KSHB VP-GM Mike Vrabac said in a statement. “41 Action News is continuing to develop local programming that is relevant to our community, and we’re thrilled that we were able to recruit the talents of Michelle and Michael.” [via Bottom Line Communications]

Schurz Communications president Marci Burdick was presented with the First Amendment Service Award at RTDNF’s 22nd annual First Amendment Dinner and Awards in Washington, DC last night.

In her speech, Burdick, who is a former news director of Springfield’s KYTV, praised local television, saying stations’ contributions to local communities “should not be overlooked.”

“On this dais tonight, I consider myself the representative of local television,” she said. “I am thankful to accept the First Amendment Service award in honor of those men and women who do this work everyday.”

Shurz Communications is the owner of 13 local stations in nine markets. Burdick was introduced by Jeffrey Marks, general manager of Roanoake’s WDBJ.

For more on the awards dinner, visit TVNewser.

After two months off the air, KYTV sports anchor Joe Hickman returned to work yesterday and revealed he suffered a heart attack earlier this year.

“We didn’t make a big announcement at the time because I was told that I needed to get some rest and recovery for awhile, and keep things private,” Hickman said in his first appearance on the air yesterday. “I’d never been in the hospital before even before this.”

Hickman has been a sports anchor at the Springfield NBC-affiliate since 1984. He thanked viewers and colleagues for their support, calling special attention to sports director Ned Reynolds, who Hickman said worked “full-time, around the clock, 24 hours a day, seven days a week” in his absence.

“Now I can take my afternoon nap again,” Reynolds quipped.

At least two NBC-affiliates recently aired a controversial anti-abortion ad after dozens of stations across the country declined to run the commercial.

KSHB in Kansas City and KFOR in Oklahoma City both aired an ad from dubious presidential hopeful Randall Terry that includes graphic images of aborted fetuses.  A number of stations, most notably WMAQ in Chicago, declined to run the ad because they did not consider Terry to be a serious candidate (Terry is a lifelong conservative who is now running for president as a Democrat).

“Political discourse is crucial in an open and democratic society,” KSHB general manager Mike Vrabac said in a statement, explaining the station’s decision to air the commercial during its 6 and 10 p.m. newscasts. Read more

Emily Wood has joined KYTV, the NBC-affiliate in Springfield, MO, as a reporter and co-anchor of the 5 p.m. newscast.

Prior to joining KYTV, Wood, a native of the Ozarks region in Missouri, was the morning anchor at KWTV in Oklahoma City. Her first day on the air for KYTV was yesterday.

“Life happens fast,” Wood said during the 5 p.m. newscast yesterday. “It’s good to be back on my home turf. It’s good to be back in the home area.”

Wood worked at KWTV for 2 years. Prior to that, she was at WJTV in Jackson, KMIZ in Columbia, MO and WGEM in Quincy, IL.

WTHR staffers at the 2011 Murrow Awards

Twenty local television stations were presented with Edward R. Murrow Awards at an RTDNA dinner honoring the winners in New York City last night. TVSpy was there as WTHR in Indianapolis was presented the award for Overall Excellence in a large market. WGRZ in Buffalo was honored for Overall Excellence in a small market.

Although the winners represented every platform of the news industry — national news, radio, online — enthusiasm for the local stations was palpable, with staffers from winning stations cheering on their colleagues audibly as they took the stage to accept their awards.

In his opening speech, RTDNA chairman Kevin Benz implored the 95 Murrow award winners — more than the RTDNA has ever presented before — to “celebrate truth through journalism.”

“The practice of producing great journalism is as important today as it has ever been,” he told the packed ballroom at the Grand Hyatt in New York City. Read more

KYTV, the NBC affiliate in Springfield, MO, will produce an additional hour and a half of newscasts for sister station K15CZ, the CW affiliate, beginning August 22.

The K15CZ morning show will add a third hour from 7 a.m. to 8 a.m. on weekdays. It will be anchored by KYTV’s Maria Neider and Paul Adler, with weather contributions from meteorologist Brandon Beck.

The second new broadcast will be 30 minutes of local news at 9 p.m., seven days a week. Anchors will be KYTV’s Lisa Rose and Ethan Forhetz, with chief meteorologist Ron Hearst and sports director Ned Reynolds contributing.

“KY3 has earned a reputation for outstanding journalism, dependable weather coverage and excellent community service,” president and general manager Brian McDonough said in a statement. “It seems natural to extend KY3 News to The Ozarks CW. As the pace of our lives grows even faster, access to timely and accurate information becomes more critical.”

KYTV, an NBC-affiliate in southwestern Missouri, has joined local newspaper The Springfield News-Leader in trying to keep a guardianship case open to the public.

The two media outlets have hired an attorney with extensive experience on First Amendment cases to argue that court documents should remain open in a case involving John Q. Hammons, an ailing local businessman whose friends are working to have a public official put in charge of his guardianship.

Hammons, 92, currently lives in a nursing home and eight of his friends have joined together to argue that Jacquie Dowdy, Hammons’s legal guardian and former business associate, is keeping him unnecessarily secluded.

Through his legal representative, Hammons asserts that he is concerned that a court case could violate his right to privacy. Read more

“Retirement might be a little bit of an exaggeration as I will continue to work in a different capacity,” Mike Scott, general manager of KY3 Inc., which manages KYTV and KSPR in Springfield, Missouri, wrote in a letter to staff, announcing his (semi-)retirement earlier this month.

Now Schurz Communications Inc., KY3′s parent company, has announced what that “different capacity” will be.  Scott will stay on with Schurz and serve as its director of programming.

In his new role, Scott will advise stations on their local programming strategy and represent Schurz in negotiations with syndication companies.

Meanwhile, Schurz continues to search for Scott’s successor.

Mike Scott, general manager of KY3 Inc., which manages KYTV and KSPR in Springfield, Missouri, announced in a staff meeting earlier this week that he will retire at the end of March.

“I have always felt I had the best job in town because of the people I have represented during my tenure at KY3, Inc,” Scott said in announcing his retirement to staff.  “The credit for our accomplishments goes to you and thanks for letting me be part of it.”

Scott, 53, has led KY3 since 1996.  In 2009, ABC-affiliate KSPR entered into a shared services agreement with KYTV and, although the two stations maintain separate news operations, Scott oversees both stations.

Scott’s final day is set for March 31 but he will move into a part-time consulting role with KY3′s parent company Schurz Communications.  Schurz is now searching for Scott’s successor with the intention of introducing one on March 1 to allow for a 30-day transition period. Read more