|
TheBuzz
Erika Engle
|
KHNL anchor-shuffling will let Sharie Shima focus on weather
KHNL-TV is shifting anchors and reprioritizing weather with moves announced in the newsroom yesterday morning.
News 8 Chief Meteorologist Sharie Shima will actually get to breathe a bit between TV appearances.
For about a year, Shima has been serving as weather forecaster on KHNL's 5, 6 and 10 p.m. shows and sister-station KFVE's 9 p.m. newscast, as well as co-anchoring the weekday news with Howard Dashefsky on KHNL at 6 and 10 p.m.
No other anchor in Honolulu pulls such duty. Were we in Dixie, we might say she's been busier than a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest, but we're not, and now Shima gets a reprieve. The station will let her go back to focusing on weather.
KHNL-TV promoted anchor and reporter Stephanie Lum yesterday to the coveted 6 and 10 p.m. co-anchor position next to Dashefsky. That will leave Walter Makaula solo on KHNL at 5, but Lum will continue to co-anchor the KFVE news at 9 p.m., said News Director Dan Dennison.
"Sharie Shima has great stature and credibility," Dennison said, praising the "poise and professionalism" with which she has handled her many assignments.
With weather becoming increasingly important, "we wanted Sharie to have the opportunity to focus on her area of expertise," he said.
Often in these situations, weekend anchors are promoted to the weekday shows, which are dubbed the money shows. Diane Ako, who has worked at KHNL for 10 years, will remain as weekend anchor, reporting three days a week. "I support the station's efforts to push forward in the ratings," she said.
Dennison said promoting Lum was "our business decision," saying she is the right person for the job right now. "That's not to diminish the work of anyone else; we value everyone," he said.
"Everything is really focused on growing and improving all of our news offerings across the day."
Shima is still busy; after all, it's hurricane season.
"Anyone who knows me knows I've always been a science geek -- and weather has always been my first love," she said. Her serving as co-anchor "was never meant to be permanent."
Shima was doing 20 weather forecasts a week and anchoring 10 newscasts a week, "it's almost inconceivable ... but the timing was really perfect with the March rains and Hurricane Daniel, it was really time to buckle down and focus on our priorities."
She and Paul Drewes are certified meteorologists, following a three-year course of study. "We want to take it up higher, for the safety of the community. We are due for another storm, but even for something as subtle as flooding, we really need to be there," Shima said.
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin. Call 529-4747, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle, Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210, Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached at:
eengle@starbulletin.com