Posted by chicagomedia.org on July 29, 2009 at 10:50:32:
WBBM-Ch. 2 news hire Don DuPree hopes 'different' will be a good fit
Phil Rosenthal | Tribune Media
July 29, 2009
Such is the tenor of the times that when a media outlet hires someone new it's a bit of a surprise.
So WBBM-Ch. 2's move to fill the assistant news director post that seemed to have been eliminated in April in a cost-cutting purge at the CBS-owned station was bound to be an eye-opener.
Particularly jarring to some will be that the job is going to a guy who's coming off 15 years of working on the Chicago-based syndicated "Siskel & Ebert" and "Ebert & Roeper and the Movies" programs for Disney/ABC as director and eventually also executive producer. But that's part of the reason WBBM wanted Don DuPree.
DuPree, who was introduced to Channel 2 staff this week and starts Monday, is not quite as unconventional a choice as he might initially seem. He was executive producer of NBC-owned WMAQ-Ch. 5's 10 p.m. newscast when he ditched news for reviews in 1993.
But the unusual background and perspective he brings to the job speak volumes about Channel 2's determination to differentiate itself in look, sound and feel -- but not necessarily substance and weight -- from its rivals, even if DuPree's job is not the biggest at the station hoping to rebound from a decades-long slump.
"That variety will bring a unique dynamic as we are in the process of developing our newscasts," said Jeff Kiernan, WBBM's news director since mid-January. "Our focus is on the stories we report and how we present those stories to viewers, and Don will be an important part of that."
DuPree has spent the 10 months or so since Disney/ABC's divorce from Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper trying to help find their review program a home, turning down potential jobs along the way. He still thinks a new version will surface, but he was intrigued by the opportunity to work with Kiernan and WBBM boss Bruno Cohen, who comes from a news background.
"People said to me, 'Why do you want to go back to local news?' and 'Why do you want to go to BBM?' " DuPree said. "I think there's a great chance to win ... and I told them nobody remembers who gets the Yankees to the World Series, but I guarantee they'll remember who gets the Cubs there."
Beyond the time he spent choreographing Ebert, the late Gene Siskel and Roeper, along with their thumbs, two lines on DuPree's resume stand out.
One of the things DuPree did in his six-year hitch at Channel 5 was help develop an off-beat morning show with a deejay-turned-newsman named Bob Sirott.
WMAQ's "First Thing in the Morning," which would prove a stepping stone for Sirott and co-anchor Allison Rosati, was quirky yet utilitarian in its embrace of a personality-driven, radio-style format.
"First Thing in the Morning" was built on DuPree's experience in the '80s at Baltimore's WJZ-TV, where he was assistant news director and worked on the station's daytime talk show, which was hosted by a pre-Chicago Oprah Winfrey.
"It's trying to do things a little differently, and maybe do them better, and that's why the Channel 2 thing is a good fit," DuPree said. "Instead of breaking things down and looking for weaknesses, it's about looking for strengths. I think there are a lot of them there, and we can build from there. That's what I've done in the past."
With so many news sources out there these days, it is incumbent upon each to come up with a way to stand out. This is especially challenging in TV news, where most newscasts in most markets seem to have been baked in the same oven.
Chicagoans historically don't take kindly to style over substance. But a well-told story, smooth but not overly slick -- that can be irresistible.
And that's why at a time when budget-crunching news operations all around the country have made way too many people available for jobs like the one at Channel 2, DuPree was able to emerge from the pack.
"You always have to be mindful of opportunities, and this is an important opportunity for our newsroom and our viewers," Kiernan said.
All hires are these days.