Dennis Welsh, general manager of Fox owned-and-operated WOFL in Orlando, talked to the Orlando Sentinel ahead of the fall television season, which officially begins today. Among the topics Welsh discussed: the most challenging newscast, some upcoming personnel changes and how the Casey Anthony case defined the station’s approach to news:
I think that it showcased our unique style and approach to local news. We’re trying to bring conversation back to local news. We’re moving in a different direction from the other stations and kind of covering what we find interesting each day. We do cover all of the local news. You might not see us lead with a murder in a bad part of town. We’ll be delving more into issues. You’re more likely to see a discussion about holding the government accountable. We’re trying to be more relevant than the tired ’80s model of local news. We feel it [the Anthony case] showcased our style of news. We had experts on. We went live on the second day [of the trial]. We saw the great desire for it. We did massive ratings. A lot of people got addicted to the way we covered it.