I've been working in the Cleveland office of WKYC this week instead of my usual assignment in the Akron office. Using TV magic, I'm anchoring the Akron-Canton News from Cleveland, but being in the "big" newsroom has lead to a few observations worth sharing.
10. I've never been in a real earthquake, but now I feel like I have. The trai
ns that run behind WKYC's building on Lakeside shake the h^ll out of this place several times a night. I jump every time the floor shakes so I look more like an intern than an anchor.
9. It's nice to have others on the set to talk with during commercials. I'm often the only person on the studio side of the Akron newsroom, but up here I get to chat with the co-anchor, sports and weather folks, and the floor directors. It's good for morale and helps me keep my energy up.
8. I'm no Mark Williamson. While pumping gas at the BP on Market Street Sund
ay, a man yelled "hey it's Mark Williamson and I watch you every night" at me in front of my kids. Mark's been off TV News for 11 years now, but he's still the first name that comes to mind. That should tell you what a difference he made for Akron. He's still tops in my book too!
7. The security cameras going up in Akron are pretty darn high-tech. I only wish we'd had them near Glover Elementary a few years ago .. so that we might have gotten a glimpse of the car that drove off after killing young Tony Swain.
6. How many stories about football players in trouble can we do in one week? Bodden, OJ, the Ohio State QB, Michael Vick ... anyone out there doing anything good? I've talked about more football players this week than John Madden.
5. It's not worth making much out of LeBron's comments about rooting for the Yankees .. as long as he never wears NY on a basketball jersey, he can wear whatever he wants on his baseball caps. He takes care of his kids, stays out of trouble, makes sure new basketball courts come to his hometown, and generally does all the right things that many other superstars don't. If his choice of childhood baseball teams is the worst thing he does in his life, I think we should all be able to live with it.
4. Hoover's cutbacks this week are tough to take. We'll feel the loss more as the weeks go by. The only solace might be the strong severance packages many of the employees will receive.
3. Quote of the month goes to Steve French at WNIR who quipped "nice to see more Akron people took the time to vote for Zippy in the mascot challenge than they did to vote for Akron's mayor." Classic.
2. Seems the Akron-Canton News has gained fans on Facebook. There's now a new group called "Akron-Canton News rules" or something like that. So far it has 30+ members. Not sure where it all started but I went ahead and joined anyway .. anyone know when the group is holding initiations? :)
1. Mark Nolan is too talented for this business. The guy should be on Whose Line Is It Anyway? or something like that. He's not only a great meteorologist, but he's a truly genuine, down-to-earth guy.
By the way, I'm getting multiple emails from folks trying to grip how I'm able to anchor the main news at 6 on TV3 and then the AkronCanton News on Time Warner at 6:30. It's all TV magic folks. Most nights I'm live in front of the green chroma key in the Akron office so that viewers see a computerized background of a newsroom. While working in Cleveland, I use the green screen at WKYC and it all looks the same -- actually it should look better from Cleveland because it's a high definition camera! If you'd like to see some behind-the-scenes photos, check out Frank Macek's blog.
What folks might really enjoy is what happens during weather. I'm in front of the green screen as I pitch to Mark .. then I have to run off to the side because Mark will do his weather segment using the same green screen and camera that I use for news. It's a quick two-step like dancing with the stars .. but without the music.
One more day in Cleveland before returning to Akron to get busy on my sweeps stories for November. It's been a great week.
ns that run behind WKYC's building on Lakeside shake the h^ll out of this place several times a night. I jump every time the floor shakes so I look more like an intern than an anchor.
ay, a man yelled "hey it's Mark Williamson and I watch you every night" at me in front of my kids. Mark's been off TV News for 11 years now, but he's still the first name that comes to mind. That should tell you what a difference he made for Akron. He's still tops in my book too!
2 comments:
While watching you anchor the 7:00 pm WKYC news last night, I explained to my parents how you were anchoring five newscasts a day - three for Cleveland and two for Akron-Canton. I told them you basically jumped between the news set and a green screen for the different programs and they seemed somewhat amused.
Hang in there, Eric - try to get some rest over the weekend - you've done well with the double duty this week. It's been nice seeing you anchoring "the big show" this week.
My only thoughts about the cameras is that they didn't come to light till after the election was won, so much for government in the sunshine eh?
Now, for a fun earthquake story; back in 1986, I was in the financial aid office at Kent State, arguing about application of some extra from my grants to my current balance. After about the third "No, we can't do that" answer, the earthquake hit. Papers shifted, file cabinets went over, and I, with as much fortitude as can be only be summoned by as a 19 year old can summon, looked the FA officer in the eye and said "Don't make me mad... this will be applied , right?" The pale faced FA officer said "Sure, I don't think that will be a problem at all..."
Post a Comment