Cleveland-Akron

Brian McIntyre, who spent 18 years working as a reporter in markets around Ohio, died Sunday night following a battle with cancer. He was 42.

McIntyre spent most of his broadcasting career covering the news in his hometown of Cleveland, first with WEWS and last with local cable news station ONN. He also worked at WBNS in Columbus and WNWO in Toledo.

After eight years at ONN, McIntyre left TV in 2009 for a job as a a community relations specialist for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. Read more

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After 12 years at WKYC, Andrea Vecchio is leaving the Cleveland NBC-affiliate. She announced the news yesterday on “Good Company,” the daily talk show she co-hosts.

“Thank you to everyone for your support over my last 7 years on the air,” she wrote on Facebook. “Looking forward to life’s new adventures. Stay tuned…”

“We have very high regards for Andrea,” WKYC general manager Brooke Spectorsky told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer. “She’s worked very hard here. I think she has a very bright future going forward.”

Vechhio has a small role as a news reporter in “The Avengers,” which was partially filmed in Cleveland. Yesterday was her last day with the station.

Dan Haggerty has joined Cleveland NBC-affiliate WKYC as a multimedia journalist, the station announced yesterday.

Haggerty has been a reporter and fill in anchor at rival WEWS, the ABC-affiliate, since 2008. He has previously worked as a photographer at WTOV in Stuebenville, OH, and a reporter at WNCN in Raleigh and WBBH in Fort Myers.

Haggerty will appear across all the station’s newscasts, according to the WKYC Director’s Cut blog.

Rita Andolsen is leaving her news director post at WKYC to become the station’s director of advocacy and community initiatives, a newly created position.

The Plain Dealer reports that Andolsen got married earlier this year and, returning from a delayed honeymoon on Monday, she informed WKYC president and general manager Brooke Spectorasky that she wanted the new job.

“This was completely Rita’s decision,” Spectorasky told The Plain Dealer.  “This is a job that that fits her like a glove. She is so wired into the community and highly respected. She sees a real opportunity here for the station and herself. I created this position about five weeks ago, and Rita hinted then that she thought it was really cool job.” Read more

Lynna Lai is joining Cleveland’s WKYC as the weekend anchor, according to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer.

Lai was most recently an anchor at rival WOIO, the Cleveland CBS-affiliate. The station did not renew her contract after former WKYC anchor Romona Robinson was hired in January.

She replaces Eric Mansfield, who is leaving the station for a job at Kent State University. Her first day will be April 16.

“Sometimes, anchors are perceived as being out of touch with the community, for never setting foot outside the station,” she said in a statement. “But Channel 3 is committed to hiring anchors who are reporters first, so I think this is a great fit.”

Longtime WKYC anchor-reporter Eric Mansfield is leaving the Cleveland NBC-affiliate for a job at Kent State University, according to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.

Mansfield joined WKYC in 1994 as an Akron reporter. He will continue to be a weekend anchor and weekday reporter for the station through May.

Mansfield, who will join Kent State over the Summer as executive director of media relations, said he wants to spend more time with his family as his kids get older. Read more

WKYC assistant news director Howard Fencl is leaving the Cleveland NBC-affiliate to join a local communications firm.

Fencl announced last week he will join Hennes Paynter Crisis Communications as a vice president, according to the WKYC Director’s Cut blog.

He has been assistant news director at the station since 2007. Fencl is a local news veteran with experience as an executive producer at WEWS in Cleveland and WBNS in Columbus. His last day at WKYC will be March 23.

Kris Pickel has been named co-anchor of the 6 and 11 p.m. newscasts at Cleveland’s WKYC, general manager Brooke Spectorsky announced today.

Pickel joins the NBC-affiliate from KOVR in Sacramento, where she is the weekend evening anchor. Beginning in April, she will co-anchor with Russ Mitchell, who joined WKYC from CBS News in January.

In a statement, news director Rita Anderson said it was “imperative” to give Mitchell a co-anchor with strong reporting skills.

“Kris is a skilled and tenacious journalist who is as strong in the field as she is on the anchor desk,” Anderson said.

WKYC‘s Fred Griffith is bidding farewell to broadcasting today, after 50 years on Ohio TV, reports WKYC’s Director’s Cut blog.

Griffith has been with WKYC since 2000, most recently serving as co-host of the NBC-affiliate’s 10 a.m. weekday show “Good Company Today.”

Before joining WKYC, Griffith spent 33 years at Cleveland ABC-affiliate WEWS, where he worked as a reporter and news producer before becoming the longtime host of the station’s daytime shows.

Griffith began his broadcasting career in Charleston, WV, before moving to Cleveland in 1959.

WOIO reporter Dan DeRoos is defending his station’s use of puppets to cover a high-profile trial.

“If someone had written a script–a movie script–about some of the testimony that we have heard… you’d never believe it in a million years,” DeRoos, who has been covering the trial for WOIO, told NPR in a recent interview.

DeRoos was quick to point out that WOIO’s “The Puppet’s Court” is not the only way that the station is covering the trial.

“At no point do we want anyone to think that this is how we’re covering this major corruption trial,” DeRoos said. “This is supplemental coverage.” Read more