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To connect with its local communities, Tegna is expanding its digital series, “HeartThreads Gold,” to cover inspirational stories from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“Everyone loves to share uplifting stories. ‘HeartThreads’ launched last summer to build on this trend by creating original and highly shareable content for our stations’ digital and social platforms,” said Adam Ostrow, chief digital officer, Tegna, in a statement. “‘HeartThreads Gold’ is a fantastic opportunity to extend these efforts by highlighting all of the untold stories – from medalists to unsung athletes – during the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.”
The campaign went live on Thursday across the Tegna-owned stations on-air and digital platforms, including Facebook. Some segments also will be seen on Tegna’s locally-produced shows Daily Blast Live and Sister Circle.
The series is produced by Tegna’s central content team, which creates digital social and on-air content and distributes it across the group’s stations.
Tegna plans to post new content every day of the Olympics, which runs Feb. 9 - 25.
Among the stories the series has told are that of Jim Shea Jr., who’s both the first American skeleton world champion as well as a third-generation Olympian, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. Maame Bliney immigrated to the U.S. from Ghana when she was just five years old, and grew up to become a speed-skater. To qualify for Pyeongchang, she beat out three Olympians. And Paralympian Steve Ferreira, who was adopted, along with his sister, as a newborn from Taiwan. He was later diagnosed with cerebral palsy, but has fought through it to win gold at the U.S. Paralympics Track and Field Championships and at other competitions. He’s now set his sights on Tokyo in 2020.
Beyond HeartThreads Gold, Tegna stations are doing other things to celebrate local athletes in their own communities. KARE Minneapolis has built an ice rink outside of their offices, while WKYC Cleveland has been airing stories on its “Everyday Champions.”
WKYC Sports Director Jeff Yakawiak is in Pyeongchang to coordinate Tegna stations’ coverage of the Games. He is joined by morning reporter Will Ujek, as well as other Tegna journalists and staff.
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