Milwaukee media writer Duane Dudek takes a closer look at the differences in how two Milwaukee stations have handled recent anchor turnover.
Dudek holds up ABC affiliate WISN as a model against NBC affiliate WTMJ.
While WISN wasted no time in naming the replacements for departing anchor Craig McKee, NBC affiliate WTMJ still hasn’t announced who will take over for departing anchor Mike Jacobs.
Dudek allows WTMJ some room, since it is one of the stations affected by the Journal/Scripps merger that was just completed in April. But he almost sounds like a sports analyst when he talks about WISN: there’s nothing like a deep roster and veteran leadership.
Their decisions reveal three things:
1) The value of a strong bench. All the moves at WISN came from within. If anchors are like quarterbacks, hiring reporters is like drafting a player who can move into the position if needed. The station hired Melinda Davenport last March to play a supporting role in the morning news. Then she replaced Marianne Lyles as Paolantonio’s co-anchor. Now someone will become her co-anchor.
2) The value of veteran journalists in a youth-driven industry. Jacobs brought almost 38-years of experience to the job. Before joining WISN in 2006, Garbaciak spent 17 years at WITI-TV (Channel 6) where she was a reporter and anchor. The younger Paolantoinio joined WISN in 2002 and has anchored the morning news for 12 years.
3) In 2004, Mykleby and Tammy Elliott became the first female co-anchors in the country, according to WISN. Later, Mykleby co-anchored with Toya Washington. Clearly gender is no longer a consideration, although stations continue to cling to the mommy-daddy, male-female co-anchor model.
WTMJ and its new overlords would be wise to keep these lessons in mind.