My View: Where The News Comes First

By News Director Bob Longo

POSTED: 12:22 pm EDT April 12, 2005
UPDATED: 2:40 pm EDT April 12, 2005

What's in a name? It may be the subliminal question your brain is asking itself as it reads through this Web site or watches a newscast on WTAE-TV. The reason? The "brand" or "slogan" by which this Web site and TV station has called itself for over five years, is changing. The reason it may be subliminal is that you, like most viewers, know us by our product and our personality. Both of which you are comfortable with and neither of which is changing. The label we slap on it, in all likelihood, is not as important to you as the information you gather from us and use in your daily life.

Still, you may be wondering ... why change a good thing? What was wrong with Taking Action For You? The answer is: nothing. But it is a fair question to ask. We'll still take action for you. We'll always fight for the little guy and work hard to make sure people, organizations and governments aren't taking advantage of you. Those things are core building blocks of our news operation, we do them well and we're proud of the results we get.

But when you look at WTAE Channel 4 as a whole, you see it is made up of a lot of elements. "Oprah," "Dr. Phil," "Desperate Housewives" and lots of other things all live here. And all those programs are terrific. But as swell as they are though, they take a back seat to our No. 1 priority. News. Local News.

That's the way we have been built and how we have operated and it is how we will continue to be built and operate. And that's why we think that when we refer to this TV station, it is a more accurate and fair thing to say that this place, WTAE-TV and thepittsburghchannel.com, is the place Where The News Comes First.

Wendy Bell, Mike Clark, Sally Wiggin, Stephen Cropper, Michelle Wright and the dozens of other hardworking journalists here will continue to do the same standout job they've been doing. Our people and personality remain unchanged. The graphic look we wrap them in will change, but those changes are good. We're a No. 1-rated, award-winning news organization. Like any top-rated organization in any business, the way to remain at the top of your game is not to remain the same, but rather to continue leading the way, to evolve, to be contemporary and relevant to your customers.

And our customers are people like you. Folks who have learned to come to us for the news, weather and sports of the day, for breaking news and severe weather. You depend on us and we take that responsibility very seriously. That will never change.

Before you click on another page, you may want to click on the link below. It is a video that includes a lot of the faces that are so familiar to you here at WTAE and it shows off our new look and explains it a just a little more.

Video: Where The News Comes First

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