Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives

July 1961-KYW's Bill Jorgensen with the early evening news at 6:30PM weeknights followed by Huntley-Brinkley at 6:45


The Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archive, located at John Carroll University..Photo courtesy John Carroll University

Hello folks:
Having a rare Monday off from work, I decided to make a run up to the Cleveland area to check out something that I had always wanted to see. The Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives at John Carroll University..It was kind of an adventure getting there as I got to take my first Cleveland RTA Rapid Train Ride..After getting off at the Warrensville Center Road Station it was about a mile and a half walk to John Carroll.
Special thanks to the staff of the Bertram Woods Branch of The Shaker Heights Public Library for their help and directions..

Finally found John Carroll..Just beyond a small shopping area near Fairmount Street. I was very impressed with the buildings and the ambience of the area..Reminded me of what a small New England college might look like..Making my way to the administration building, a very nice young lady called around to find the info about the archive's location..Finally found O'Malley Hall, where the Archive is located in one small room in the basement..Was able to meet Ms. Lisa Lewis, who serves as Media Services Coordinator of the Tim Russert Dept. of Communications and Theatre Arts..As part of her duties, she helps manage the archive as far as helping to copy film onto other formats, including VHS and DVD..Some interesting facts about the archive..

The archive is mostly News Film and assorted TV Reports from WEWS-5 (1959-88) and WKYC-3 (1959-78), as well as radio reports and other materials

She said there may be a few entertainmemt programs in the mix, but they have a lot to catalog as yet..Much of it is 2" tape, but there is some older format that they havent been able find a machine to play it on..

She also went over prices for duplication..The Archive is used mostly for research for documentaries..I got to look at the room..represented in the picture above..many cans of film and materials..She says they may try to put some things online down the road, but with being short of staff and money to really do it right, it may be a long time before anything like that is considered.

I also got to meet with Archive Manager Dr. Alan Stephenson briefly, as he was about to start a class..He along with retired TV 5 director (and sometime on-air talent) Jim Breslin, were instrumental in starting the Archive in 1988..Dr. Stephenson also worked at WVIZ-25 during its early days.

Grateful Thanks to Ms. Lewis and Dr. Stephenson for their time and patience in talking with me and showing the Archive..

Link to the Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives Page:
Northeast Ohio Broadcast Archives
Report on the Archive from WVIZ-25