US local TV network company Tegna has replaced its chief legal officer Lauren Fisher less than a year after she took up the position.

Fisher is being succeeded by Alex Tolston, who is joining from Latin America and Hispanic-focused TV and cable network business Hemisphere Media Group, where he was also CLO. At Tegna, he will lead the company’s legal department and oversee matters including corporate governance, content creation and distribution, regulatory, ethics and compliance, M&A, capital markets and litigation. He will report directly to CEO Mike Steib, who joined the company in August.

Tysons, Virginia-based Tegna is a local TV company with 64 stations across the US, with a monthly audience of around 100 million. Tegna was created when US newspaper publisher Gannett Company spun out its broadcast business in 2015.

Steib said: “Alex is a sharp lawyer and a battle-tested public company leader with a real passion for serving local communities. He’s going to be a great addition to our team.”

Tolston spent a decade at Hemisphere in Miami, where he also served as a senior advisor and corporate secretary. Prior to that he spent four years working at Paul Weiss in New York in its corporate, capital markets and securities group. He previously worked at defunct financial firm Bear Stearns before graduating from New York Law School in 2009.

He said: “Tegna is a best-in-class operator of television stations in more than 50 markets in the US, delivering high quality journalism to households across America. It is not surprising that a significant majority of viewers continue to consume local news daily, which they view as a trusted source of information. I look forward to partnering with Mike, the leadership team and board to build on Tegna’s brands and audience.”

Fisher, meantime, exited the company in early September having only joined in November last year. She was previously CLO at Vox Media, arriving at Tegna to replace Akin Harrison who had quit the company earlier in 2023 following the collapse of its sale to Standard General. 

Fisher’s departure followed the retirement of David Lougee as CEO in August, who had hired Fisher for the role. Tegna didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on the reason for Fisher’s departure.

In other recent US media moves, Fox News Media in July hired Katherine Moran Meeks as general counsel from Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, replacing Bernard Gugar. Also in July, streaming platform Roku hired Disney’s theme parks lawyer Louise Pentland to replace Stephen Kay as GC.