This just in from Detroit Free Press editors:
Folks,
Please join us in welcoming Mike Brookbank to the Free Press. Mike will anchor our Free Press news segments on First Forecast Mornings on WWJ-TV from 5 to 7 a.m. weekdays. The show starts May 5. He will fill the newly created position of digital host.
Mike brings almost 10 years’ experience in broadcast. He’s done everything. He’s handled a camera as a videographer, written scripts, produced shows, reported news and feature packages, and moved into anchor roles. Most recently he helped launch and then anchored/produced the three-hour morning newscast in Colorado Springs for FOX 21 Morning News. Mike has worked at WSJV (FOX ) in South Bend, Indiana; WCIA (CBS) in Champaign, Illinois; and KTTC (NBC) in Rochester, Minnesota. He’s a 1999 graduate from the University of North Dakota. He grew up in the Chicago area.
We worked through many candidates, with three requirements – first, that they be talented, polished and experienced with TV news, that they be able to represent the Free Press well on air and off, and that they be available to start work today in order to help mold our show and be on air May 5th. WWJ-TV already has in place anchors to handle the weather and traffic reports on First Forecast Mornings.
We’re excited about hiring Mike – for his on-air presence, his work as a broadcast news reporter, his versatility, his commitment to journalism and his history of community service. He’s full of ideas and has the experience to make them happen.
Production work at WWJ-TV starts today. Rehearsals begin in earnest next Monday. We’ll be working with folks throughout the newsroom this week and next as we prepare for the launch. We are running fast on this and look forward to bringing you all into the TV process. Mike will be meeting individually with some staffers as he acclimates himself to Detroit and everything we cover.
Please take an opportunity to say hello to Mike today. We’ll have cookies in the photo & video department at 1:30 p.m. – we’ll delay the news meeting until 1:45 today. Please come by and say hello, and watch prototypes of our show-opening graphics, audio and music.
Thanks,
Nancy, Craig, Kathy and Elisha
Nancy Andrews
Managing Editor/Digital Media
Detroit Free Press
615 W. Lafayette Blvd.
Detroit, MI 48226
313-222-8893 office
313-223-4665 fax
freep.com
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yakscorner.com
Hesitantly, I’ll risk asking the semi-obvious: Your point is . . . ?
Sure, it’s fun to peek over their shoulders at 600 West Fort Street (sorry, Nancy — that address you use still belongs to my ex-employer) by reading this memo . . .
. . . and yes, it’s amusing to glimpse the defensive tone (“. . . his commitment to journalism . . . he’s full of ideas and has the experience . . .”) and the childishness of “we’ll delay the news meeting ” for a meet ‘n greet with cookies. (What, no chocolate milk?!)
But beyond that, Joel, are you suggesting this is not a good thing? . . .
. . . that multi-platform convergence (I didn’t used to talk like this, honest) is suspect, tainted, imprudent, angering the Gods of Print Purity?
. . . that your ex-shop really faces a choice between being a ‘Newspaper or TV station?’, rather than an opportunity to expand journalism delivery formats? . . . that innovative, format-flexing boldness isn’t vital?
I admire the NYTimes for posting well-reported, well-produced videos and slide shows — including some that stand alone, rather than supplementing prose content. And I admire the Freep for hiring someone who sounds like a digital journalist grounded in the same profession we pursued.
This blog’s value and personality come from being more than a doc.drop . . . so your thoughts, please.