Joe Donatelli

Digital Director @Wews-Tv

Cleveland/Akron, OH, US

This is the TV station I grew up watching, and I was the right guy at the right time. Before my wife and I decided to leave Los Angeles and raise our kids back home in Cleveland, I stopped in at News 5 to say hello and see if they had any openings. Little did I know: the station lacked digital leadership for two years. I was offered the job within 48 hours. There was a lot of work to do. We were last place on social media in the market, had no coherent strategy and were under-staffed. With support from the entire building, we changed all that.Today I lead the digital strategy, execution and team for the local leader of digital in-depth news coverage and real-time severe weather coverage. We connect with an ever-growing number of viewers online by meeting them where they are with humanity, speed and context while customizing our journalism for those platforms. We go where we\'re needed, and we\'re useful. I have had the pleasure of building and managing the team that writes and edits stories and videos and works with our on-air talent to get their work out into our communities. We\'re known for our headlines and push alerts that go beyond the obvious and offer context and meaning. A number of digital initiatives have been launched under my watch, including a popular daily newsletter a unique social media video production process, a severe weather streaming studio, and an award-winning podcast.I most enjoy elevating the work of others, and over the last several years, the digital staff at News 5 has won multiple regional Murrow, Emmy and All Ohio Excellence in Journalism awards.Good thing I stopped in to say hi.

Ohio University

Bachelors