Rob Powers feels like a kid again, and it’s all thanks to a portrait of Dorothy Fuldheim in the NewsChannel 5 lobby. During the late ’80s, the Holy Name High School alum spent his days walking past the portrait that hung outside Wilma Smith’s office during his internship. After working as a sportscaster in Indianapolis, Toledo and New York City, the Parma Heights native returned to his roots at NewsChannel 5 in August as the 4, 6 and 11 p.m. co-anchor. But being back didn’t hit Powers until he walked into the station’s lobby and saw the picture of the groundbreaking female journalist again. “Nothing struck me more upon my return than that beautiful portrait,” he says. “Holy cow, I’m back home.” We caught up with Powers to talk dream jobs, anchoring the news and being home.
Q: As someone who grew up watching NewsChannel 5, how important is that anchor chair?
A: When you just said it, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. It means the world to me. It was always [anchor] Ted Henry and that voice. It wasn’t really real, or it wasn’t really news until Ted said it. That’s got power in itself. I know what it means to sit in that chair, and I will never take it for granted.
Q: Why was now the time to come back?
A: With how exciting things are right now, I wanted to be a part of that. As you look at the city with all the positivity surrounding it, that’s the stories I’d like to tell. I don’t know that I can tell the stories any better than anybody else; I just know that I want to be one of the people telling them.
Q: What about working with your co-anchor Danita Harris are you most looking forward to?
A: She’s sharp as a tack and very good on air. I’ve got to be on my toes, because she’s so darn witty. I’m looking forward to learning from her the ins and outs of Cleveland news. I couldn’t ask for a better partner to start this.
Q: You’ve said this is the station you’ve always wanted to work at. Why?
A: Everybody thinks I’m lying or kidding about that. But when I was 5 years old, I would watch [NewsChannel 5 anchors] Joel Rose and Jenny Crimm. I would watch a block of news and run to my basement with a blank sheet of typing paper — because I couldn’t read anyway — and I would try to present it to an audience of zero in my basement.
