WGRZ-TV (Channel 2) has been running promos celebrating the career of Claudine Ewing and her promotion to the 5:30 p.m. weekday anchor slot.
My first reaction to hearing about Ewing’s promotion from weekend anchor last week was, “it is about time.”
The respected, Emmy-winning journalist has worked in the media for more than 30 years, starting at WBEN-AM in radio.
Ewing, who grew up on Grider Street, is a graduate of the Buffalo Academy for Visual and Performing Arts and SUNY Buffalo State. She began her TV career at WIVB-TV and switched to WGRZ in 1998.
In a column several years ago, I referred to her as “arguably Buffalo’s most underrated broadcast journalist.”
She is blessed with an important tool for a broadcaster: a distinctive, soothing voice that she has been praised for since being in elementary school.
Ewing replaces Michael Wooten on the 5:30 p.m. newscast. He left the station a few weeks ago after declining a contract offer.
It is a well-deserved promotion for Ewing that is notable for something not included in Channel 2’s promos: A person of color is going to be a weekday anchor at the NBC affiliate and that doesn’t happen often here.
Ewing was the logical choice if she wanted the job.
She received a New York State Emmy nomination this summer in the category Talent: Anchor-News. Ewing also was recently named best anchor in the latest edition of Buffalo Spree.
A Buffalo News story in 2017 celebrating Ewing’s 25 years in the media addressed the lack of diversity and anchors in Buffalo during weekdays.
Over the decades, Buffalo television stations have done a terrible job promoting people of color to weekday anchor slots. That is partially due to the longevity of white anchors in this market.
People of color have generally been assigned weekend anchor slots. Ewing became the station’s weekend anchor in 2020 and has filled in on weekdays.
Many viewers, including myself, have wondered why she hasn’t been…
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