Newscasts at WTAJ will soon be in high definition, according to The Altoona Mirror.

“We are re-doing the entire set,” Phil Dubrow, VP-GM at the Altoona CBS affiliate, told the Mirror. “The clarity will be much better. Everything is getting upgraded from the studio cameras, set, graphics and logo. We are adding a new weather lab and adding weather cameras around the viewing area.”

Dubrow said Nexstar is in the process of upgrading many of their stations, and that WTAJ is the first to get a makeover this year.

“It will change the way people see things. The clarity will be better,” he said. “Everybody is jazzed up; there is a lot going on here.”

WTAJ, the CBS-affiliate in the Johnstown-Altoona-State College, PA market, has hired John Mecham as its new news director. His first day is set for July 2nd.

After stints as executive producer/managing editor at KDKA in Pittsburgh and as content management center supervisor at KVOA in Tucson, Mecham has spent the past year working in public relations.

“News is my first love,” Mecham wrote on his LinkedIn page, announcing the move. “Most of us got into this business to make a difference. I’d like to think that is still vital to what we do as journalists. I look forward to working with the staff at WTAJ.” Read more

Journalists won’t be allowed to record the sex-abuse trial of Jerry Sandusky but they will be able to live-tweet it.

According to a court order issued on Wednesday, journalists will be allowed to tweet and blog as they attend the trial, which is set to begin next week.

Local news stations WJAC and WTAJ will each have one reserved seat in the courtroom, and will be able to use smart phones and laptops during the trial, although they will not be allowed to record or broadcast “any verbatim account of the proceedings while court is in session.” Read more

The State College police department is working with the public to identify the protestors that destroyed a WTAJ news van during last month’s riot at Penn State.

On November 9th, thousands of Penn State students gathered in downtown State College to protest the firing of beloved football coach Joe Paterno.  The demonstration quickly escalated into a riot with angry students targeting the media for their presumed role in Paterno’s dismissal.

State College police have so far identified 33 people who caused havoc during the riot, according to WTAJ.  There is now a photo gallery on the State College city website with images of unruly protestors, including students who were responsible for tipping the WTAJ news van over.  The department is urging the public to come forward with tips and information about those involved.

Gary Sinderson, a reporter at WJAC in Johnstown, PA, writes about reporting on the Penn State Scandal on TVNewsCheck. Sinderson, who is a Penn State alum, says he “began hearing whispers about Jerry Sandusky several years ago”:

Why couldn’t I report it? I didn’t have the time to get the needed verification to move the story ahead or to convince my bosses it’s not a rumor, but a real story. It’s just the nature of my particular job. I’m a one-man band, expected to crank out several stories a day. I may get a day or two to work on a large story, but not the time afforded to [Harrisburg Patriot-News reporter Sara] Ganim.

[...] Some in this biz are lazy, just repeating and reporting on what a few others have uncovered. We have a lot of commentators and not enough folks on the front lines finding the stories for everybody else to talk about. Corporate downsizing has cut those positions.  Read more

Amy Mearkle, who has been with Altoona CBS-affiliate WTAJ since 1999, is leaving television for a job as the director of marketing for a local amusement park.

Mearkle, an Altoona native, joined the station as the Bedford County reporter. In 2001, she was promoted to morning and noon anchor, where she has been ever since.

“When I hear breaking news, I will miss that,” she told the Altoona Mirror. “I won’t miss the early alarm clock in the morning.”

The station is undergoing a search for Mearkle’s replacement. Her last day will be November 23. Read more

Last night’s riot at Penn State could have erupted into a massive bonfire after demonstrators overturned a WTAJ news van.

According to WTAE sports anchor John Meyer, who covered the riot last night, a stream of gasoline leaked from the overturned van into the streets of State College, where thousands of students had gathered.

“This unsafe situation could have been a whole lot worse,” Meyer told viewers this morning, referring to the riot, “as gasoline started to spill from that live truck and go all the way down the street for about half a block.  If anyone had struck a match all of a sudden, you know what would’ve happened after that.  So thankfully that did not happen.”

As thousands of students crowded the streets around the Penn State campus on Wednesday night, protesting the University’s decision to fire beloved football coach Joe Paterno, the mob quickly chose a common enemy: the media.

Nearly 100 members of the media were at the Penn Stater Conference Hotel covering the board of trustees’ announcement when word quickly spread of a student demonstration developing nearby.

Following the press conference, local reporters as well as news crews in from Pittsburgh and elsewhere rushed to downtown State College, where a growing mob of students had gathered.  And things quickly turned ugly. Read more

A man who has been part of the Penn State sports community for decades is stepping down this week.  No, not Joe Paterno.  Longtime WJAC sports anchor Tim Rigby.

WJAC, the NBC-affiliate for the Johnstown-Altoona-State College market, decided back in August not to renew Rigby’s contract so tonight will be his final newscast with the station.

“Obviously I’m disappointed,” Rigby told The Tribune-Democrat recently.  “When I was told of the decision in August, I said that I have been given worse news in my life and everything worked out. I just have to have faith and everything will work out again.” Read more

Penn State students unleashed their anger over the firing of Joe Paterno on a WTAJ news van Wednesday night, at the edge of the university’s campus.

The van was parked at an intersection where students had congregated to protest Paterno’s dismissal, while a WTAJ news crew covered the upheaval.  Amid chants of “flip it, flip it,” a group of protestors tipped the van on its side, breaking windows and equipment. Read more