Looking a little different at WWAY News

It's too early to say exactly what the change is, but there are definitely some changes on the anchor desk at WWAY TV.

The hapless humanoid Kaci Christian appears to have been demoted from her three-month or so reign as 6 & 11 co-anchor with the slightly hapless Steve Rondinaro. I'm not sure exactly what his title, "managing editor," means, beyond an ego boost and an excuse to pay a middle-aged white man more than anyone else, but I assume it allowed him to transfer the energy he generated grimacing at her absolute, appalling, lack of ability to relate - to him, the weather people, the camera, the viewers and her subject matter - into a decision to back her out of the main anchor gig.

The long-suffering Ann McAdams, the only member of the adult sector of the newsroom (not counting Chris Phillips, who they definitely need not to force out!) to remain since new management came in swinging the budget scythe last year, has been restored to the 6 & 11 anchor chair next to Steve. She isn't the best anchor the world ever saw, but she is head and shoulders above the imported botox bimbo - and she has one of the key ingredients of an audience-building cornerstone of the newsroom: she is local and she's not going anywhere.

If there has been any mention on the air (which I really wouldn't expect) I have missed it, but the new configuration began the first of this week, I think, and it's reflected on the newsteam page of the WWAYtv3.com website, where Ann's photo has moved up next to Steve's, bumping Kaci down to the second tier of images, and her title has changed from Anchor/Producer to Evening Anchor, formerly the province of Steve and Kaci only. Kaci retains that title right now, but that could change as quickly as Ann's did, the move taking place one day and the title change later.

You don't have to look far to see that continuity and the level of trust and familiarity that come only with years of exposure, combined with an unspoken assurance that she's not spending half her time looking for her next job, are the keys to building and keeping a loyal local news following. Charlie Gaddy at WRAL, Larry Stogner at WTVD, Ken Murphy and Frances Weller at WECT - there's nothing groundbreaking about the rewards of having an authoritative, "permanent" face on your anchor desk. Spread the radius farther, and everywhere you look, the leading news sets in most markets are led by someone with not just years of experience but years in that very chair.

It's a given in this size TV market that the reporters and probably the second-tier anchors will be transients, probably in their first or second jobs out of college and spending one contract term here working for their big break somewhere else, or showing us and themselves why they don't have what it takes to get any further. (Kim Lehman at WECT/WSFX is the best anchor in the market by far, in terms of talent and performance, but at this point I don't think anyone has the feeling she's staying around. If she is, Frances' replacement is in the house!)

The only way to get audience loyalty is by getting and keeping a copacetic anchor team - including the weather folks and, everywhere but WWAY right now, including sports. Get Ann some speech therapy or a dental appliance to lose the lisp, and assuming her doctor-husband is happy here, you've got your main standby. The jury's still out on Steve - if he can tone down his hokey 80s-style selling of every word a little bit, and increase the already hugely improved chemistry with Ann vs. the total lack with Kaci, and if he and the management are both committed to the long run, he may be a keeper too. There is a pretty clear lack of news judgment over there, significantly more effort spent promoting stories than ensuring the reporters have a grasp of the subject they are addressing, so perhaps he can exercise the "managing editor" part more, too.

It's not rocket science, y'all ....