CLEVELAND, Ohio — When people think of morning local news, the perception is often traffic and weather on the tens, recycled news from the night before and a lot of fluff.
WEWS Channel 5 is trying to change that. The station recently launched the E-Team on its “Good Morning Cleveland” program, which airs weekdays from 4:30-7 a.m. The three E’s in the name stand for exclusive, enterprise and early. The goal is a simple, but novel concept: to deliver substantive hard news in the morning.
“You compare it to the tradition of the morning newspaper,” News 5 news director Jeff Harris said, talking about the dearth of enterprise reporting in the morning. “For local broadcast news, it is an unconventional and somewhat discomforting feeling to invest many of your news stories and important stories right when the day begins.”
Harris says original reporting has been missing from morning newscasts for decades and a change is overdue.
“It’s really what news consumers are crying out for,” he said.
The introduction of the E-Team — reporters Jonathan Walsh, Kristin Volk, James Gherardi, Lauren Wilson and a team of producers and photographers working behind the scenes — might seem like a course correction for “Good Morning Cleveland.” The current iteration launched in 2015 with splashy promos focusing on the show’s fresh and hip cast. But four of the six reporters featured in the spots have since left, leaving only anchors Terrence Lee and Corrina Pysa.
Harris says “GMC” was always a hard news show. “There’s always a difference between how newscasts are advertised and the experience in watching it. I wouldn’t say anything’s changed, really,” the news director said.
So, you’ll still find plenty of traffic and weather, however, alongside that, you’ll now see more meaningful stories and what Harris calls “real news” as well.
“Just this morning we broke news about a questionable hire in East Cleveland in the police department,” he said. “The stories will range from investigative in nature to stories that are hopeful and highlight the renaissance of Cleveland.”
In addition to the new faces, viewers will notice new graphics, a faster pace and more live shots. The changes — the news director won’t call it a re-branding — have coincided with the start of February sweeps, but the station says it’s not about ratings, it’s about quality.
“We have an expression here, which is, ‘Hard news is news that’s hard to get.’ It takes investment, it takes time, it takes commitment,” Harris said. “It’s about asking tough questions and about holding the powerful accountable. That’s the kind of stuff you’ll be seeing in the morning.”
In its first week, the E-Team reported on stories about a program that puts released convicts to work and, also, why it takes so long for potholes to get fixed– stories traditionally reserved for the evening newscast. Harris is excited about what the team has in store in the coming days and weeks, though he’s keeping his cards close to the vest.
“This ain’t no stunt,” he said.
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