Calvin Hughes knew after ABC launched its Miami channel on Aug. 4, there would be an uphill battle between his local news station, Channel 10, and the national network. Like David versus Goliath, local versus national news, with truth as the stone.
Now that Channel 10 and ABC have cut ties after almost 70 years of working together, Hughes has new newscasts and responsibilities.
The University of Miami professor and award-winning anchor thought he was done sacrificing basketball games and family time for news. But his job keeps asking for more and he doesn’t judge.
“I’m more concerned about [the viewers,]” Hughes said. “They are the ones who are not getting some of the programming they have been used to for the last almost seven decades.”
Hughes worries that the worldwide news corporation could miss out on reporting local issues that affect viewers.
On Aug. 5, GMA anchor Sam Champion stopped by Tinta y Café, a Coral Gables Cuban cafe, with pomp and circumstance. He laughed about strong Cuban coffee, tasty pastelitos and how great Miami is.
Hughes couldn’t help but think, “People in Miami already know they live where people vacation, but do they know the facts?”
“You can look at what’s happening in New York, but you have to focus on is your trash getting picked up? Are the potholes in your street getting filled?” Hughes said. “By the time you get hyped up by whatever’s on MSNBC, CNN or FOX, there’s nothing you can do about it.”
He’s ready to remind local viewers they still have the power. It doesn’t hurt that in the process, he’s making history by leading the first 9 a.m. newscast in South Florida. What does hurt is missing his son’s layups.
“I always look forward to seeing his [basketball] games, I taught him how to play,” Hughes said. “I’m gonna miss some opportunities with my children that I used to have.”
Missing his family triumphs to capture stranger’s tragedies takes its toll. Yet, while reporting in other countries like Haiti, he’d remember his old mantra that is soothing and invigorating: “The way you spell success is ‘S-A-C-R-F-I-C-E.’”
Hughes firmly stands on the local news frontline to report on what larger news stations can skim over. He encourages his peers, interns and UM students to stay married to the facts, which resonate with any viewer.
“There are three things you cannot hide: the sun, the moon and the truth,” Hughes said. “We’re just obligated to tell the truth and as long as we stick to that, people will find it.”
Truth has to be prioritized to adapt to the changing newsscape to Hughes. He runs around the clock to combat the spread of disinformation.
“I’m off the air at 6:30 p.m., it takes 30 minutes to go home, 45 minutes to have dinner, and then I have to be out the door by 7:50 p.m. to get back to the TV station by 8:20 p.m. and I’m back on the air at 9 p.m.,” Hughes said.
Louis Aguirre, a fellow Channel 10 anchor, is just as busy. On top of running the award-winning news series “Don’t Trash Our Treasure,” Aguirre took over Muir’s old time slot: the 6 p.m. world news.
Both run at the same time and cover similar content. So why should viewers watch Aguirre instead of Muir?
“I’ll compare it to burgers,” Hughes said. “It may be a case of the fact that your mom went to McDonald’s, your grandparents went to McDonald’s, and therefore you feel like, ‘you know what I know what I’m getting when I go here.’”
It’s all about one thing new corporations need to earn from viewers.
“You could go to CBS, FOX and NBC for pretty much the same information, but it comes down to who you trust,” Hughes said. “There is no doubt about what you’re going to get when you come to us.”
Becoming hyperlocal, covering issues and events that may never reach ABC’s inbox to make viewers feel seen gives Hughes the energy he needs to get through another endless week. So, he’ll happily take the extra news shift and maybe one more for a bigger contract.
“As unsexy as it sounds, covering Miami City Hall, Miami Dade County Hall, covering all those meetings and really having a local presence for political stories, I think we can make a huge difference,” Hughes said. “Because the others are not doing it.”