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Notes from the Newsroom: 9/30/09

By Frank Macek

Time for another edition of "Notes from the Newsroom" as your blogger shares some of thoughts on our little corner of local television.

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Congratulations to several WKYC staffers who take top honors in Cleveland Magazine's annual "Best of Cleveland" poll. This year's winners include Romona Robinson for best female anchor, Mark Nolan for best male anchor and Jim Donovan for best sports anchor in Cleveland. Also, SportsTime Ohio's Design Director Greg Goyla and his 80's cover band the "Spazmatics" were recognized for rocking 80's music like no other local group. They have even performed for former President George W. Bush. The "Best of Cleveland" party will be held on Friday, October 16th at 7 p.m. at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum.

WKYC.COM has launched a new project called "Tributes" that uses the power of wkyc.com to spread the word about the passing of our local residents through on-line obituaries. The service launched on Monday, September 28th, and offers an affordable option for families to share the life story on a loved one. You can leave notes of rememberances, upload photos of a loved one and view regular obituaries from participating funeral homes across northern Ohio. The site also offers a starting point for funeral pre-plannning and more information.  Please take a moment and check out the website at: http://wkyc.tributes.com

With health care reform and the spread of H1N1 in the news almost daily, WKYC is committing even more resources to both on our on-air and on-line medical coverage to keep our viewers informed on these important stories and developments. As a result, WKYC's Senior Health Correspondent Monica Robins will be devoting more time to leading our WKYC health coverage and anchoring our 7 p.m. broadcast with her co-host Eric Mansfield.  As a result, WKYC News Director Rita Andolsen has announced Maureen Kyle as the new anchor for "Channel 3 News at Noon" that started Monday.

Newspapers may have slowed, or perhaps even stopped, their financial descent after three years of plunging revenues, crumbling stock prices and heavy layoffs. The latest glimmer of hope came as the largest U.S. newspaper publisher Gannett, owner of WKYC-TV, announced that its third-quarter earnings will be substantially above analysts' forecasts. Although Gannett's revenue for the period fell slightly below analysts' projections, executives said newspaper advertising sales didn't fall as badly as they did in the first half of the year. Still, newspapers have yet to come up with a solution about what to do regarding the massive shift of readers and advertisers to the Internet. Gannett shares rose 18 percent Tuesday. Other newspaper and media stocks also climbed. On Wednesday, Gannett closed up again $12.51. (Source: The Associated Press)
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