News-Press from Fort Myers, Florida • Page 86

NEWS-PRESS, SUNDAY. OCTOBER 10, 1993 LIFESTYLES NEWS: WFTX after younger viewers OTHER ON-AIR PERSONALITIES From Page 1F Jennifer Crawford Age: 25 Chris Dunn Age: 26 Position: Weekend weather reporter Hometown: Long Beach, Calif. Background: Degree in journalism from California State University. Not yet certified by the American Mete Craig Gropper Age: 28 Position: Reporter Hometown: Los Altos Hills, Calif. Background: Master's degree in journalism from New York University.

This is his third station. Five years on air. Family: Single Quote: "I believe Position: Reporter Hometown: Denver, Colo. Background: Degree in communications from BYU. This is her fourth station.

Four years on air. Transferred from DUNN GROPPER in just keeping things fresh." Hannah Hawkins Age: 30 siauon inaiana. CRAWFORD Family: Married, plus dog Whitney Quote: "I'm interested in a lot of crime and murder trials." Sandra Fiedler Age: 22 too concerned. "I always have respect for my competition. I know they put a lot of money and effort into this and it's going to be very interesting," says WBBH-TV 20 vice president and general manager Steve Pontius.

"But it's not the first 10 o'clock newscast that has been tried before. We've looked at virtually every market that has one, and it doesn't seem to have that much of an impact. "They have never done day one in news." WINK's management echoed Pontius' response. "We have the leading news show in town, and they aren't competing directly against us at 1 they're competing against the CBS entertainment we air at 1 0," says Joe Sch wart-zel, WINK vice president and general manager. "I would think being new will be a weakness for them.

We have seasoned reporters, producers, and management who have been in the market many, many years. I don't see how from a news perspective being new is an advantage." And WEVU's vice president and general manager Bob White isn't too worried either. "They'll do fine, but I don't think they will affect our newscast. This is a market that has a lot of news consumers." But tick-tock; in about 24 hours, WFTX will take the test. sort of take coaches by surprise." As with Fox television in general, the newscast will be targeted at 18- to 34-year-olds but not so much that it alienates older viewers, Pierce said.

He thinks viewers will notice the biggest difference in how WFTX treats stories more lifestyles coverage, more faces, more local news. "It will be news with an attitude. Action-oriented, aggressive," he says. "Less talking heads. A reporter will go out and find out how a story affects viewers." WFTX's newness lets the team do what other area stations have been wanting to do but have yet to accomplish, he says, because "when you have a 20- or 30-year-old news station, change is harder to do.

When you have brand-new people, the up side of that is you have no old habits." Of course, newness has its downside, too. There's the issue of trust and credibility; being new, the station's newscast has none yet. News sources aren't as plentiful for WFTX as they are for media who have been here for years. And though the station has been doing live practice runs for more than a month, it's yet to be truly live and subject to public scrutiny. The competition has been giving the new newscast some scrutiny as well.

But it's hard for them to of fer an opinion on something they've yet to see, management at area stations agreed. Even so, most say they aren't orological Society but studying to be. He was in radio before moving to TV. This is his second station. Three years on air.

Family: Single Quote: "I believe in relating the weather to people and everyday life whether they need to bring an umbrella to work or can head to the golf course. A little bit of -education, but also meaning." Patrick Leaver Age: 31 Position: Reporter Hometown: Mound, Minn. Background: Degree in broadcasting from Arizona State University. This is her fourth station. Seven years on air.

Position: Reporter Hometown: Miami Background: Degree in journalism from Florida International University. This is her third station. Family: Single Quote: "I syndicated jukebox." "The success of local TV is localism," Pierce added. "Localism is what Ted Turner can't do." What Pierce had to do began back in May. While workers tore apart the WFTX building on Pine Island Road to build the set, he pored over 1,200 demo tapes from job candidates.

They ranged from garden-variety to creative: "This tape will knock your socks off," read a note on one, wrapped in a sock and sent by a sports anchor candidate. On a baseball: "Mr. Pierce, hire me and I'll strike out your weekend sports competition." "Great gimmicks," he recalls, "but fair tapes." He finally settled on a familiar face as lead anchor Pete Scovill from the station's "Troubleshooter" show. "Scovill is a working journalist. He's out on the streets a lot," Pierce said.

"This extends 'Troubleshooter' into the news area." Scovill will continue with the 5:30 p.m. weekday show, and "Trouble-shooter" segments also will air on the 10p.m. newscast. Though there won't be a designated co-anchor, reporters will rotate sharing the desk with Scovill. At Scovill's side will be Tom Chis-holm, a meteorologist lured away from The Weather Channel, and Sherry Lowe will handle sports.

As the area's only female sports-caster, Lowe who started out as a print reporter, then moved on to radio and TV will stand out from the crowd. But she says she's ready to make her stand. "Since I was little, I always wanted to be a sportscaster. But I only saw men doing it. It is more difficult in the man's world of sports-casting males are raised in sports.

I never played. Maybe that gives them a little different perspective. "I faced difficulty getting a sportscasting job this was the only station that would hire a female sportscaster. At least Fox thinks Fort Myers is ready for a woman. But I JjL FIEDLER S'B HAWKINS Quote: "I like the idea of getting on top of a story and staying with it." Michelle Tuzee Age: 27 Position: Reporter Hometown: Roanoke, Va.

Background: Degree in Journalism from Radford University. This is his third station. Spent four years in the Army as a journalist for approach stories from how I feel they affect people." Dean Webb Age: 29 4 LEAVER Position: Weekend anchorreporter Hometown: Cleveland, Wis. Background: Degree in journalism from the University of Southern California. Areas of reporting: medical and Position: Weekend sports anchor Hometown: Seattle, Wash.

Background: Degree in television production and performance from Eastern Washington University. This is Armed Forces radio and TV. Will work for "Troubleshooter" as well as the newscast. Family: Single Quote: "You have to learn how to do the same story a lot of different ways. I like a story that has punch, that sounds intriguing.

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