UTICA -- The WUTR/WFXV Eyewitness News HD newsroom has a new leader. Veteran journalist Don Dudley will fill the position that's been vacant since Joe Parker exited the operation a few months ago.
That's the word from Nexstar VP/GM Stephen Merren, as reported earlier today on UticaOD.com.
The newspaper's website says Dudley has more than 25 years' experience in local news, most recently at WRNN and FiOS 1 News downstate.
Dudley's own website at dondudley.com says he is head of The Dudley Group, a New York City firm that "advises both Fortune 500 companies and non-profit organizations."
Like Joe Parker before him, Dudley will be an on-air News Director, co-anchoring WUTR's 6pm and 11pm newscasts.
Parker was the station's first News Director and 6/11 co-anchor when it was decided to revive the newsroom at the ABC affiliate and its sister Fox affiliate, several years after former owner Clear Channel shuttered the WUTR newsroom in 2003. No reason was given for Parker's exit in June. Co-anchor Elsa Gillis has been appearing solo on the anchor desk since then.