Nick Monacelli is the morning reporter for WDIV. He starts his day at 2:00 AM, arriving at work at 3:30 AM to prepare for the 5:00 AM newscast. After the morning show, he continues to work on stories for the evening newcasts, with his day ending at 12:30 PM.
He is proud to be a reporter on a local news station. Studies show that local TV is the primary and most trusted source for news. Some of the national stories that came about by local reporting are the Flint water crisis, the Kwame Kilpatrick corruption case, and the Larry Nasser case. There are also national stories, such as hurricanes, that requires the local TV news to notify its viewers of available shelters and which areas are being hardest hit. Mr. Monacelli flew down to Houston to cover Hurricane Harvey so that the local reporters could take care of their families and property.
The 24 hour news cycle and social media have changed the news dynamics. Where, in the past, a breaking story would be held until the 11:00 PM broadcast, it is now put out on the station’s website to give it publicity for the evening’s show. As social media grows, a larger percentage of WDIV’s revenue is coming from its website. With the changing environment, there is a journalistic fine line between providing the immediacy needed with a story and making sure that its accurate.