Director's Cut Blog with Frank Macek

Jennifer Lindgren By Frank Macek In this "Get to Know Team 3" feature, we finally had the chance to sit down with WKYC Multimedia Journalist Jennifer Lindgren who joined Channel 3 in August 2010 from WTLV in Jacksonville, Florida, and WLTX in Columbia, South Carolina . As a multimedia journalist, Jennifer is a one woman band who shoots, edits and fronts her own packages as television continues to move in this new direction of journalism. Her stories have received recognition along the way. She's been the recipient of a regional Edward R. Murrow Award for writing. In the past couple of years, the South Carolina Associated Press has honored her work for general assignment reporting, as well as the Florida Society of Professional Journalists for feature reporting. Here is what Jennifer had to say during a recent conversation with the Director's Cut Blog: Question: Tell us about some of the positions you held at your earlier stations. Jennifer: I...

Matt Granite By Frank Macek The latest addition to the Channel 3 News staff is Matt Granite who joined us in February from our Gannett sister station in Buffalo. Matt is our "Ways to Save" guru and produces the weekday 4:30 a.m. morning show on Channel 3. We recently sat down with Matt over a delicious cup of coffee and asked him a few questions that will help you get to know Matt better. Here is what Matt had to say to the Director's Cut Blog in our "Get to Know Team 3" feature. Question: What stations have you worked for during your career so far? Matt: In grad school I worked for WYCC-TV, a PBS Station in Chicago and went on from there to work as a Washington D.C. Capitol Hill Correspondent for WCAX-TV (Burlington, VT). Unfortunately, the weather wasn't cold enough for me so I relocated to Minnesota and worked for KXJB-TV and KVLY-TV (Fargo, ND) as the morning show producer and live reporter. I then moved to Buffalo (WGRZ-TV) where I developed ...

By Frank Macek WKYC General Assignment Reporter Dave Summers  steps into our "Get to Know Team 3" Spotlight this time around. Dave sat down with us in the Channel 3 Newsroom recently to answer a few questions the Director's Cut Blog had about Dave's past and interesting things you might not know about him. Question: What stations have your worked for during your career? Dave: I have been around the Buckeye State. My career stops have included WCMH-TV in Columbus, WLWT-TV in Cincinnati, WJW-TV in Cleveland and most recently here at WKYC-TV. Question: Which do you like better - being an investigative reporter or general assignment reporter? Dave: I like each position equally. There are great rewards doing both. It's great to be in on the daily fast pace, but also in taking more time with a story and peeling the layers that makes it an interesting challenge. Question: What are some of the questions fans ask you when you meet them on the street? Dave: ...

Senior Health Correspondent Monica Robins steps into our "Get to Know Team 3" Spotlight. Recently, we had the chance to spend a few quality moments with Monica to find out more about both her reporting life and things she likes to do outside of work. We have worked with Monica since she came to WKYC and you'll find she has quite a few interests that you might not know about. Question: You have worked as a videographer, editor, producer, news anchor, health anchor and investigative reporter during more than 20 years as a broadcast professional. Have you found being so flexible has benefited your career? And, do you recommend that others in the business have multiple skills in this new age of television? Monica: Absolutely. I truly believe it's the only way to survive in this ever changing business. No one should think they're too old to learn something new. I also think in these unsure days, flexibility = job security. Question: You worked in Columbus as an i...

Every once once in a while, I get the courage to go up to one of our main anchors and ask if they could let me ask them a mix of serious and zany questions about their work at Channel 3. This time around, I chose our main male anchor, Tim White. He's not only a good friend to me, but his military duty has been an inspiration to us all over the year here at WKYC. Therefore, I hope you enjoy a little look up close and personal with Tim. Question: You started your career in radio at the age of 14 in your hometown city of Clare, Michigan, doing high school news. Can you remember what you were thinking when the on-air light went on that very first time? Tim: I was all of 14 and a freshman in high school when I did my first radio show. The town had one small radio station that was on the air from sun up to sun down. I talked my way into the job of being the "high school reporter". I wasn't sure what that meant, but I wrote out about 10 pages of notes on a yellow leg...

The spotlight shines brightly on WKYC weeknight news anchor Romona Robinson in this edition of "Get to Know Team 3." Romona joined WKYC in March 1997 after anchoring the "Ten O'Clock News" on WUAB starting in January 1988. Since your blog jock sits right next to Romona in the newsroom, we thought it would be fun to ask her a few questions about some things we've always wanted to know. Q: When did you first realize you wanted to be on TV? Romona: I was six years old, sitting next to my Mom watching legendary anchorman, Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News. He was fascinating to watch, I thought. I told Mom that day, I liked his voice and his eyebrows were bushy and scary, but I wanted to read the news just like him. I remember her looking down at me smiling say, "Okay, but you'll have to get good grades and go to college." Q: Where else have you worked over the years, besides at the WKYC Digital Broadcast Center? Romona: I started my ...

WKYC Weather Plus Meteorologist AJ Colby steps into our popular "Get to Know Team 3" spotlight segment this time. AJ has been with WKYC for the past fews years and currently handles the weekend 6 & 11 PM weathercasting duties on Channel 3 News. We sat down with AJ and found out a little more about him. Q: When did you know you wanted to become a weather forecaster? AJ: I was in fifth grade when I saw the destruction caused by a deadly tornado which touched down near Albion, PA back on May 31st, 1985. Although nothing more than a portly little tyke, I was impressed by Mother Nature's pure power. 12 people died in that tornado and I was awe-struck by such raw, unstoppable force. I believe that that was the initial driving force behind my eventual career choice. Meanwhile, I reported my local weather conditions to a local Cleveland TV station when I was 13 years old. My name was mentioned several times as an official weather watcher, and I was immediately HOOKED! Q...

This month, we are going to feature a relatively new face to the Channel 3 News family. While she is new to you, Maureen is not new to Cleveland - she grew up here and now is getting to work in her favorite city. We recently asked Maureen to take a few minutes between writing news stories and answer a few of our questions: Q: What cities have you worked in prior to coming back to your hometown city of Cleveland? Which city (besides Cleveland), do you think has been your favorite? Maureen: I came back to Cleveland after a few years in Louisville, Kentucky. Louisville is one of the country's best kept secrets. The town is quaint with some of the best restaurants. I started reporting while I was in college in New York City. Not to date myself, but I covered a lot of 9/11 and its aftermath. I loved New York City before the attacks, but going through that remarkably difficult and frightening time, I became a New Yorker. New Yorkers have a reputation for being rude, but the way every...

Time to share some behind the scenes info on one of the newest Channel 3 family members, WKYC Sports Reporter Dave Chudowsky. You can see Dave report and anchor the "Browns PreGame Huddle" Sunday Mornings at 11:30 AM and "Browns Tonight" immediately following our late news Sunday Nights. Here is what Dave had to say when we asked him some tough questions between shows recently: Q: When in your life did you first know you wanted to a sports reporter? Dave: A very young age. I used to interview my parents, while we would drive in the car. Sports has always been my passion, talking is what i am best at! It just made a lot of sense! Q: You came to WKYC from the Ohio News Network (ONN) in Columbus...where else have you worked? Dave: I started my career in Toledo, at WTVG 13-ABC. I also spent a high school football season reporting at WMFD in Mansfield on Friday nights, while working in Toledo. Q: What is your favorite and least favorite part of sports reporti...

Channel 3 Reporter Mike O'Mara steps into the spotlight in this month's "Get to Know Team 3" feature. Mike is a four time Emmy award recipient and has been honored many times by the Press Club of Cleveland for his reporting excellence. We recently sat down with Mike and threw a couple of questions his way: Q: You started your broadcasting career in radio, much like I did. First you worked in Toledo, then you went on to Detroit, what were some of the positions you held? Mike: I started as disc jockey doing the night shift at WMHE 92-5 FM. Then I added vacation relief shift at the same time in Detroit (WRIF) from 10am - 2pm. The Toledo station then moved me to morning show and made me music director and then program director. When I made the transition to television, I was hired as a reporter, photographer and editor. I had to quickly learn how to shoot film and tape and edit both mediums. A few months later, the news management made me weekend anchor, producer, w...

Our Akron Canton News Anchor/Channel 3 News Reporter, Eric Mansfield, has fallen into this month's "Get To Know Team 3" feature. Eric was kind enough to answer some questions we've been wanting to ask him. Q: When did you know it was your calling to be a journalist? Eric: I joined my high school newspaper staff when I was 15 and knew that I wanted to be in the media. I began taping two-minute news segments on my cassette recorder to play on the Akron Public Schools radio station and that got me interested in broadcasting. I also was a P.A. announcer in the high school gym, although I was probably a bit too loud on those days when there weren't too many fans in the stands for freshman girls basketball. Still, the basketball coach paid me $5 per game, and I was hooked on broadcasting. At first, I wanted to be a morning disc jockey and replace Matt Patrick at WKDD. Eventually, my focus shifted to sports reporting and play-by-play announcing, but I quickly found m...