Tegna
WFAA
Dallas, Texas, United States • Founded in 1949
WFAA Channel 8 is the local ABC television affiliate for the Dallas, Texas, area, covering news of local, national and international importance.
It focuses on politics, weather, sports, crime, investigative, education and human interest stories that the public needs to be informed citizens. Owned by Tegna since 2015, WFAA was founded in 1949 as KBTV by Texas oil magnate Tom Potter, who operated this and other regional television stations through the Lacy-Potter TV Broadcasting Company. Only a few months later, the A.H. Belo Corporation, owner of The Dallas Morning News, bought the station. The WFAA call letters reportedly stand for "Working For All Alike," although the sister radio station WFAA later billed itself as the "World's Finest Air Attraction." Since 1986, WFAA TV's news department has won six Peabody Awards as well as several national Edward R. Murrow Awards and eight Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Silver Batons.
- Leslie McCardel – Director of Content and Strategy
Best Practices Policies
WFAA inherits best practices policies from its parent news organization Tegna.
Mission
Tegna says it serves communities by providing news, seeking solutions, exposing problems, providing editorial and community leadership, promoting understanding of complex issues and advocating for communities that are a part of their platform.
Ethics
Tegna's policy states it is dedicated to the principles of truth, independence, public interest, fair play and integrity. These principles apply to everything it does, from gathering information to reporting and producing content. To apply these principles its journalists are told to stop, think and get input from a variety of perspectives.
Ownership & Funding
Tegna Media is one of the largest, most geographically diverse broadcasters in the U.S. Across platforms, Tegna aims to deliver relevant and trusted content by telling empowering stories, conducting impactful investigations and providing innovative solutions for advertisers through Tegna Marketing Solutions.
Diverse Voices
Tegna's policy is to seek input from a variety of voices from the community to impact editorial decisions. Through this approach, it seeks to understand the whole story of the individuals and the stories that make up the community.
Corrections
Tegna's policy is to make corrections promptly and proportionate to the original reporting.
Unnamed Sources
Platforms under Tegna use unnamed sources only as a last resort when it best serves the public’s right to know, and only with prior news management approval, according to its policy.
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The Trust Project
The Trust Project is an international consortium of news organizations building standards of transparency and working with technology platforms to affirm and amplify journalism’s commitment to transparency, accuracy, inclusion and fairness so that the public can make informed news choices. It was founded and is led by award-winning journalist Sally Lehrman.
Our Funders
Craig Newmark, founder of craigslist, was our original funder, through the Trustworthy Journalism Initiative of Craig Newmark Philanthropies. Google followed with their financial support. Our funders also have included Democracy Fund, the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Facebook. Funders. Trust Project policies and the Trust Indicators are shaped and enforced independently from our funding sources.
Awards & Recognitions
The Trust Project® and Trust Indicators® are exclusive trademarks of The Trust Project.