WKYC's ‘Support Our Students' Summer Campaign Uunderway

It may be summertime but WKYC believes in ‘seeing the possible’ in Cleveland’s students all year long.

And when we can get the whole community involved, it can have a huge impact.

This summer, WKYC wants you to join us in our ‘Support Our Students’ campaign, also known as S.O.S., and we are giving you three ways to help local students succeed in school.

You can choose the project that most suits you: You can 1) Donate an armload of children’s books; 2) Drop off school supplies; or 3) Mentor a student. Every bit of support makes a difference.

RELATED | True2U: A mentor's experience

See which project you like best to help students in need from the Cleveland area.

BOOKS: Through Aug. 4, WKYC will be collecting new or gently used children’s books right here at our WKYC studios at 1333 Lakeside Avenue in downtown Cleveland. We are asking that the books be suitable for students from kindergarten through eighth grade. You can drop them off any day of the week and place them in our collection bins. The books will be divided between the United Way of Greater Cleveland’s Stuff the Bus with Books campaign (to be distributed via the Cleveland Public Library during the summer) and the National Council of Jewish Women’s Building Bridges With Books program (which creates libraries inside Cleveland public schools where there is a need).

SCHOOL SUPPLIES: WKYC will also be collecting the following school supplies through Aug. 4: Pens, notebooks, pencils, book bags, crayons, loose-leaf paper, rulers, glue, scissors, calculators and two-pocket folders. WKYC is partnering with Tomahawk Entertainment Group to support its “Cover 4 School Supply Drive.” It’s a grassroots effort to collect school supplies for the Kids In Need Resource Center. Tomahawk’s school supply drive will culminate Thursday, Aug. 10, with a collection event from noon to 6 pm at Buffalo Wild Wings at 26200 Harvard Avenue.

MENTORING: Be a volunteer mentor for True2U, an innovative program that prepares eighth graders in Cleveland public schools for the transition into high school. More than 500 volunteers are needed to mentor eighth-graders and help them develop the tools to make the most of high school and be successful in college and career. It’s not a heavy time commitment and you get plenty of support: volunteers are matched into teams, and meet monthly with students at their schools. Through a structured curriculum, you will expose your students to career options and show them how to maximize their strengths. This program is supported by the Cleveland Foundation’s MyCom youth development initiative, the Neighborhood Leadership Institute and the Greater Cleveland Partnership. 

To sign up, go to: http://bit.ly/true2mentors

Paul Sciria, WKYC's First Full-Time News Reporter, Passes Away At Age 88

Special to the Director's Cut Blog
by Dave DeNatale, wkyc.com

(Photo: Cleveland International Hall of Fame)

A pioneer in Cleveland broadcasting, and here at WKYC Channel 3, has passed away.

Paul Sciria, WKYC's first full-time news reporter, has died at the age of 88, according to his grandson Nick.

Paul was a Clevelander through and through. He grew up in the Kinsman area and attended John Adams High School.

He graduated from Ohio State University in 1950 with a BA in political science. After working in public relations for a few years, Paul began his broadcasting career at WTAM radio, followed by a stop at WJW radio before joining WKYC in 1957.

During his distinguished career at WKYC, Sciria served as street/investigative reporter and was on-call 24 hours a day.

As he told ClevelandSeniors.com, that included getting alerted while watching a movie at Shaker Square in 1960. Big letters came across the screen that read, "Paul Sciria, call your office."

Paul was rushed to Toledo to cover the plane crash that took the lives of the entire California Poly-Sci football team.

He interviewed everyone from The Beatles, to Richard Nixon, to Jimmy Hoffa, during his time at Channel 3.

Paul was with WKYC from 1957 until 1975. He then went on to start a public relations and advertising agency. In the 1980s, his PR skills led him to work with Don King Productions, helping to promote boxing champions Larry Holmes and Mike Tyson, among others.

In 1992, Paul created and became editor of La Gazzetta Italiana, a monthly newspaper targeting Ohio's Italian-American community. He also went on to serve as a Mayfield Heights councilman. 

Among the accolades Sciria earned included induction into the Cleveland Journalism Hall of Fame and the Cleveland International Hall of Fame.

Paul and his beloved wife Francesca had six children, 9 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

WKYC Honored With 3 Major Press Club of Cleveland Awards

Channel 3 News at 11 pm was honored tonight as "Best Television Newscast in Ohio in a Major Market" from the Press Club of Cleveland at their annual awards ceremony.

The station also received a first place finish for best television news website (wkyc.com) and a first place finish for on-going coverage of the Republican National Convention in Cleveland in July 2016.

Congratulations to my WKYC colleagues!

TEGNA Completes Spin-off Of Cars.com; Dave Lougee Named President And CEO

McLEAN, VA – TEGNA Inc. (NYSE: TGNA) (parent company of WKYC-TV) today announced that it has completed the previously announced spin-off of Cars.com, creating two publicly traded companies: TEGNA, an innovative media company with the largest broadcast group among major network affiliates in the top 25 markets; and Cars.com, a leading digital automotive marketplace. TEGNA will continue trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol TGNA. Effective today, Cars.com will begin “regular way” trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol CARS.

New TEGNA president & CEO Dave Lougee

Upon the completion of the spin-off, Dave Lougee, president of TEGNA Media, was named president and CEO and joined TEGNA’s Board. Gracia Martore, president and CEO of TEGNA, retired and stepped down from the Board of Directors.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to become CEO of this great company,” said Lougee. “Gracia has meant so much to everyone at TEGNA. She has been a mentor and partner for many years and her vision, leadership, integrity and drive have been crucial to our company’s transformation and success. I am committed to honoring her legacy and will continue to grow and strengthen TEGNA as we move ahead as a standalone, industry-leading media company.”

Lougee added, “Thanks to the leadership of Gracia and the Board, we have worked tirelessly over the past several years to transform our company. We are driven by our strongly-held values and our stated purpose to serve the greater good of our communities. Our intense focus on innovation, combined with our operational excellence, is helping us accelerate growth. We are also uniquely well-positioned to benefit from a changing regulatory environment. Our very strong balance sheet and significant scale allows us to be strategically opportunistic.”

The spin-off was effected through a pro rata distribution of all outstanding common shares of Cars.com to TEGNA stockholders of record at the close of business on May 18, 2017 (the “Record Date”). Stockholders retained their TEGNA shares and received one share of Cars.com for every three shares of TEGNA stock they owned on the Record Date.

Lougee also announced his executive leadership team. Joining him on the leadership team are Victoria Harker, executive vice president and chief financial officer, Lynn Beall, executive vice president and COO of Media Operations, Anne Bentley, vice president and chief communications officer, Ed Busby, senior vice president of strategy, Todd Mayman, executive vice president and chief legal and administrative officer, and Jeff Newman, senior vice president and chief human resources officer.

Marjorie Magner will continue as Chairman of TEGNA’s Board of Directors. Jennifer Dulski, Howard D. Elias, Lidia Fonseca, Scott K. McCune, Henry W. McGee, Susan Ness, Bruce P. Nolop and Neal Shapiro continue to serve as TEGNA directors in addition to Lougee.

Prior to becoming president and CEO, Lougee was president of TEGNA Media, where he oversaw TEGNA’s 46 broadcast stations in 38 markets. Under Lougee’s leadership, the company’s Broadcast portfolio doubled after the acquisitions of Belo Corp. and six London Broadcasting stations. Lougee was named president of Gannett Broadcasting in July 2007 and previously served as executive vice president, media operations for Belo. At Belo, he also served as senior vice president; president and general manager of TV and cable operations in Seattle/Tacoma; and news director at KING in Seattle/Tacoma.

Before that, Lougee was vice president, news at WRC, the NBC station in Washington DC and vice president, news director at KUSA in Denver. Lougee received the 2017 Ward L. Quaal Leadership Award from the Broadcasters Foundation of America. In 2015, he was inducted into the Broadcasting & Cable Hall of Fame and in 2014, was awarded the First Amendment Leadership Award by RTDNF and the Broadcaster of the Year Award by Broadcasting & Cable.

Lougee is also deeply committed to the industry at large. His serves as joint board chairman of the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and chairman of the NBC Affiliates Board. He also serves on the board of directors for BMI (Broadcast Music Inc.), the Broadcasters Foundation of America and is past chair of the Television Bureau of Advertising (TVB) Board of Directors.

Greenhill & Co. acted as financial advisor on the spin-off transaction and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz acted as legal advisor.