Wbre Shines In Standoff Coverage
Van Rose
Wednesday, December 15, 1999 Page: 1C
WNEP-TV Channel 16 is the self-proclaimed news leader of Northeastern
Pennsylvania, but its coverage of last week’s standoff between police and a
gunman who held his girlfriend hostage missed the mark.
Channel 16 played second fiddle to WBRE-TV Channel 28 from the outset of
the intense situation, which began at an Interstate 80 rest stop near White
Haven at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Dec. 8.
WBRE’s Andy Mehalshick was the first local TV reporter to arrive at the
scene after the gunman got off a Greyhound bus and held a gun against the
woman’s head, and threatened to kill her.
Mehalshick did an outstanding job of keeping viewers apprised of the
standoff, which lasted for more than six hours.
Vince Maddox was the first WNEP reporter to arrive. He began filing reports
about 10:30 a.m. Maddox did a decent job of updating developments.
However, Channel 16’s credibility went out the window later in the day,
thanks to reporter Dave Thomas. He was flying around in the Skycam 16
helicopter when a state police sharpshooter shot and killed the gunman at
approximately 3:20 p.m. – unbeknownst to Thomas.
Thomas filed a live report at 4 p.m., and stated that the standoff was
still in progress. It wasn’t until 10 minutes later that Thomas reported the
gunman had been killed, and he failed to mention what time he was killed.
He acted as though it had just happened.
That isn’t surprising. Thomas, a newcomer at Channel 16 who formerly worked
at WBRE, was simply maintaining the station’s holier-than-thou attitude.
But, for at least one day, local TV’s news leader was a laughing stock.
Of course, they’ll never admit it.
* * *
Channel 28 will soon be cutting back on its newscasts. Plans are in the
works to drop the 6 a.m. Saturday newscasts and the 7 a.m. Sunday newscasts.
WBRE General Manager Art Daube said the moves are being made to lay the
groundwork for the expansion of “28 Today” to weekends.
“We’ve been very pleased with the initial success of `28 Today,’ ” Daube
said, referring to the new weekday morning news and talk show hosted by Dia
Wallace and Mark Hiller. “For a long time, we’ve wanted to take a different
approach to the Saturday and Sunday morning newscasts.
“On weekend mornings, people are more inclined to watch a program that is
less news-oriented and more geared toward what’s going on in the community,”
Daube said. In order to accomplish that, we feel it’s in our best interest to
drop the early mornings newscasts and add `28 Today.’ ”
The “28 Today” weekend show will air from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. on Saturday
and Sunday. A host has not been chosen, and the air date for the show’s debut
is still undecided, Daube said.
* * *
Scott Hetsko, the weekend weather man at WYOU-TV Channel 22 for the last
two years, has left the station. But he hasn’t left the company.
Hetsko has accepted a job as the weekday weather man at WROC-TV, the NBC
affiliate in Rochester, N.Y. The station is owned by Nexstar Broadcasting,
which also owns WYOU and WBRE.
“Scott is very talented,” said Art Daube, who oversees the news operation
of Channel 22. “We’re going to miss him, but we would much rather see him go
to a sister station than lose him from the company.”
Van Rose is a Times Leader staff writer. His television column is published
every Wednesday.
