Sandy Breland

Sandy Breland McNamara is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Gray Television, Inc. She is responsible for overseeing station operations, Gray’s National Investigative Unit, DC Bureau, news support services, and Gray’s Research and Consulting team. Prior to becoming COO, Sandy served as Senior Managing Vice President of Local Media where she was responsible for a portfolio of 16 television stations and local digital platforms. Sandy joined the company upon Gray’s acquisition of Raycom Media in early 2019, where she served as Group Vice President. Sandy has been a champion of quality local journalism for nearly 40 years and has received some of the industry’s highest honors. She was honored with a Peabody and an Edward R. Murrow award for her planning and execution of Hurricane Katrina coverage during her time at WWL-TV. She proudly serves on the Board of Directors for the Carole Kneeland Project for Responsible Journalism. Sandy is a recipient of the RTNDF’s First Amendment Award and the Society of Professional Journalists’ Sigma Delta Chi Award for public service. In addition to a bachelor’s in journalism from Loyola University-New Orleans, she has attended continuing education sessions at Columbia University’s Sulzberger Leadership Program, Missouri University’s Management Program for Broadcast Professionals, and the Poynter Institute. Her career has included General Manager of WVUE-TV (Fox) in New Orleans, Louisiana, and WAFB/ WBXH in (CBS/MyNetwork) Baton Rouge, Executive News Director of KTVK-TV (Arizona’s Family TV3) in Phoenix, Arizona, and Executive News Director of WWL-TV (CBS) in New Orleans.