From LONG ISLAND – by Ann Parry (ann-parry.com)
May 14, 2022
WABC-TV ABC 7 & Lawrence Herbert School of Communication launch L.I. partnership
‘Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness.’ – Mark Twain (1835-1910)
VIDEO 1 – Dr. Susan Poser tells why it was a no-brainer to green light project to have WABC’s Long Island Bureau at Hofstra:
With great anticipation and my Nikon Z9, I drove to the Grand Opening ceremony of the Eyewitness News Long Island Bureau at Hofstra’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication on May 4th.
Thanks to the prediction of a storm, which never arrived, the event was held at Studio A, rather than outside LHSC.
Eyewitness News reporter CHANTEE LANS will be stationed full-time at the Long Island Bureau, and ABC7 vans have their own parking spaces next to the LHSC building.
This is MAJOR for several reasons, including:
• 1 • It will give Lans a solid chance to become familiar with, and gain insight about, Long Island, its people and events.
• 2 • It will give Hofstra communication students an ongoing chance to see, and develop a working relationship with, a professional cover news….
‘The world needs good journalists right now, and I believe that’s what this is about.’ – Dean Mark Lukasiewicz (May 4, 2022)
The hosts of the event were DR. SUSAN POSER, Hofstra’s president; and Dean MARK LUKASIEWICZ of the Lawrence Herbert School of Communication.
Creating an Eyewitness News Long Island Bureau at Hofstra began in 2018, the year Lukasiewicz became Dean at Hofstra. During his long and distinguished career in journalism, he worked at ABC for 11 years.
Guests included CHAD MATTHEWS, the new president of ABC Owned Television Stations; DONALD SCHAEFFER, Chair of the Hofstra Board of Trustees; ABC anchor BILL RITTER, who emceed the ceremony, SHIRLEEN ALLICOT, a graduate of LHSC and current Eyewitness News anchor; Hofstra LHSC students; Hofstra staff and alums; community leaders and officials.
The long-standing mutual respect between Chad Matthews and Dean Lukasiewicz was evident during each of their speeches, and Matthews mentioned he was happy the abc7 Long Island Bureau at Hofstra opened before he named a new General Manager of WABC New York.
Eyewitness News anchor BILL RITTER emceed the event.
Ritter’s known Chad Matthews and Dean Mark Lukasiewicz for decades, and I enjoyed the heartwarming, funny anecdotes he shared about each.
Ritter narrated the ceremonial unveiling of the Eyewitness News sign as we watched it on the large screen on stage.
Outside the entrance of the LHSC building, two communications students braved the sunshine, as Ritter put it, to remove the blue cloth covering the sign at the entrance of the Communications building:
Councilwoman DOROTHY GOOSBY, Legislator TOM MCKEVITT, Councilman ANTHONY D’ESPOSITO, and Nassau County Executive BRUCE BLAKEMAN were among those attending not just because of their offices but because they were former Hofstra students.
And the Mark Twain quote at the top – “Nothing spoils a good story like the arrival of an eyewitness” – alludes to a third reason why this Hofstra alum finds it major that Eyewitness News will have a reporter stationed full-time at the Long Island Bureau:
• 3 • Covering news as an eyewitness makes it more likely the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth of the story will be shared.
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
ABC7NY + Hofstra
FEATURE PHOTO (at top of post) – Hempstead, N.Y., U.S. May 4, 2022. SHIRLEEN ALLICOT, a 2004 graduate of Hofstra’s Lawrence Herbert School of Communication and current Eyewitness News anchor, speaks at the opening ceremony of the WABC Long Island Bureau at LHSC. (© 2022 Ann Parry/AnnParry.com)
VIDEO 2 – After heartfelt, funny intro from ABC anchor BILL RITTER, Dean MARK LUKASIEWICZ says what the world needs right now:
ABC 7 Opens L.I. Bureau at Hofstra: my PHOTO GALLERY
LI Advocate: Eyewitness News sets up shop at Hofstra’s Herbert School [Megan Naftali, May 5, 2022]
Lawrence Herbert School of Communication
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