Times-Picayune reporter to be WWL morning anchor...and other news

[PelicanGuy 117]

From TP to TV

Print reporter joins WWL's morning news team

 

Dave Walker

 

WWL-TV has hired Rob Nelson, a reporter in The Times-Picayune's West Bank bureau, to be morning news anchor.

 

Nelson, who has worked for The Times-Picayune for seven years but otherwise has no broadcasting experience, should be on the air before the end of June.

 

He'll anchor the 5 a.m. news hour weekdays, then do news cut-ins between 7 and 9 a.m. for Eric Paulsen, Sally-Ann Roberts and the rest of the WWL coffee-talk gang. With the remainder of his morning, he'll report stories for later newscasts.

 

Chris Slaughter, WWL's news director, saw Nelson speak at a Press Club of New Orleans function a couple of years ago (Nelson currently is the club's president) and began following his reporting career.

 

"His story selection was good," Slaughter said. "He really got it. We felt he understood the quirks of New Orleans, and he got the local flavor.

 

"On a number of occasions, he would be at a press conference where our cameramen would come back and say, 'Look, who is this guy? This guy asks some very good questions.' He was aggressive and probing without being over the top.

 

"Cameramen saw the potential in him."

 

Eventually, Slaughter tested Nelson's ability to read from a TelePrompTer -- a key skill when delivering morning headlines to the groggy masses.

 

"We ran (the text) three times, and by the third time I said, 'That's enough. We have what we need,' " Slaughter said. "He got relaxed quickly. He made a mistake here and there, but he didn't make the same mistake twice."

 

Nelson, a 28-year-old New Jersey native, said he was surprised at first by WWL's interest but is now geared up for the new career challenge.

 

"I've been involved with newspapers since I was a freshman in high school," he said. "I will always love writing, but this was an opportunity too good to pass up. It was a chance to learn a new skill set and a chance to do it at a great station in a city that I love.

 

"Sometimes you have to roll the dice and take a chance, and I'm rolling."

 

Nelson fills the slot vacated several months ago by Jennifer Huntley, who currently is shopping herself on the newscaster job-search Web site http://www.medialine.com. E-mails sent to the contact address on the page -- intended for communication with news directors looking to hire -- were unreturned, but her listing otherwise notes that her geographic preference for new work is either the Pacific Northwest or Asheville, N.C.

 

. . . . . . .

 

Slaughter's title is new. He had been serving as acting news director for the station since Sandy Breland's September departure (with reporter/husband Dave McNamara) for Phoenix but got the official promotion a few days ago.

 

In other news, after Mayor Nagin's State of the City address on sister station WUPL tonight, "Nightwatch" anchor Mike Hoss said WWL will begin a 9 pm newscast on WUPL Monday, called "Eyewitness News at Nine."

 

Also, another possible sign of changes at the station, the "Eyewitness Morning News" gang has not been using their main set since last week. Instead, they have been using the small desk set they use during the first hour of the three-hour broadcast.

[currie555 0]

I cant wait to see WWL-TV's new set and studio. Isn't it supposed to be finished in the next year or so?

[PelicanGuy 117]

The new main set for "Eyewitness Morning News" is complete. There is a thread for it and a video under Sets and Studios. I'm guessing they're working on the set used during that show's first hour...or they could be getting rid of it period and using the space for something else.

 

Stay tuned.