The retirement of long-time anchor and director of news and public affairs Barry Third has led to changes inside the Dougall Media newsroom.
A trio of long-time employees are taking on new roles as a result, their goal to modernize and guide the collective television, radio, website and weekly newspaper newsrooms through the rapidly changing media landscape.
Leith Dunick, who has been with the company since 2002 as editor and publisher of Thunder Bay Source, has assumed the role of director of news, responsible for the television licenses, news policy and the overall direction the company takes with its coverage.
Jonathan Wilson, formerly the assignment editor, has added manager of Thunder Bay Television News to his job title. In his new role he will determine the day-to-day coverage for the flagship 6 p.m. TBT Newshour, the 11 p.m. show, the A.M. edition, Northwest Newsweek and all related local news content.
He’ll also be instrumental in helping to develop any new television news programming.
On the anchor desk, Ryan Bonazzo steps into the shoes left behind by Third, who sat in the chair for 35 years before retiring last month. Bonazzo has also been elevated to the management team, responsible for the oversight of the anchors on the weekday and weekend newscasts
“It’s a big challenge, but one we’ve been preparing for since we first entered the world of journalism. Jonathan and I have been in the news game for more than 25 years, while Ryan, one of the brightest minds in the business, has more than 12 years in television,” Dunick said. “More importantly, we know this community and this region. We live here, we play here and we’re raising our families here. Thunder Bay and Northwestern Ontario matter deeply to us and we want it the community and its people to thrive.
“Together, we plan to take a more progressive and aggressive approach, holding the city and regional powers that be to task, while looking to be more inclusive and responsive to the area’s rapidly changing demographics.”
Wilson, a Thunder Bay native who started at TBT News in 1993 and also worked at news stations in Sault Ste. Marie and Timmins, later spent three years as a reporter at the Chronicle-Journal before returning to the TV station in 2008 when he was named assignment editor.
In that role he’s maintained a keen sense of the inner workings of Thunder Bay, which he plans to use to push the stations’ coverage to new limits.
“I'm looking forward to carrying on the tradition of producing top quality, informative newscasts for our thousands of viewers, including local sports coverage and news from around the Northwest. Barry Third set the bar pretty high, but I'm confident that with our team of young, eager reporters and anchors, we can deliver newscasts filled with breaking news, local sports highlights, human interest pieces and some fun stories that all make the news worth watching,” Wilson said.
Bonazzo, familiar to Thunder Bay viewers from his half-decade of city council coverage and his role as a back-up news anchor, is ready to sink his teeth into his new role.
“It’s an honour and a privilege to be invited into the homes of northwestern Ontario residents every day when they turn on TBT News. Neither me nor my teamI take that responsibility lightly,” said Bonazzo, a Confederation College graduate.
“My goal is to continue to deliver the same high quality news coverage that our viewers have grown accustomed to over the years, while adopting new, exciting content delivery methods to appeal to an even wider audience.”
