• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
TVNewsCheck, The Business of BroadcastingTVNewsCheck, The Business of Broadcasting
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs
  • Help
  • Programming
  • Technology
  • Business/Revenue
  • Journalism
  • Digital
  • Regulation
  • Market Share
Back to Market Share HomeBack to TVNewsCheck Home

PAUL GREELEY 817-578-6324 | PAUL@NEWSCHECKMEDIA.COM | @TVMarketShare

WDIV’s Haddad Becomes Detroit’s ‘Vaccine Hunter’

Ken Haddad says he began the “Vaccine Hunter” project when he noticed a huge influx of emails and viewer feedback to the Graham Media NBC affiliate from people having trouble finding vaccines. “It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer life-saving information to our viewers,” he says.

 

by Paul Greeley April 19, 2021 7:00 EDT

 

Ken Haddad

People looking to secure appointments to get their COVID-19 vaccines are turning to WDIV’s Ken Haddad, ClickOnDetroit’s digital content manager, for help. WDIV is the NBC affiliate in Detroit owned by Graham Media.

Haddad is helping people in real time, personally answering dozens of emails every day from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. each day.

His efforts have been noticed by public officials like Ron Klain, President Biden’s chief of staff, who retweeted one of Haddad’s posts.

Donna Harper

Donna Harper, from WDIV’s creative services department, says Haddad’s “Vaccine Hunter” project was his own idea.

“Ken just decided one night that there was a need, and he took it upon himself to fill the void,” Harper says. “He hasn’t stopped since.”

She says ClickOnDetroit, WDIV’s website, has been the No. 1 news website in Metro Detroit for three months in a row “because people are so hungry for vaccine information and this is a testament to that.”

According to Comscore, ClickOnDetroit had more than a million unique views in February, says Harper.

Haddad says he began the Vaccine Hunter project when he noticed a huge influx of emails and viewer feedback from people who were having trouble finding vaccines.

He says even though they were posting a lot of information about clinics on ClickOnDetroit, appointments were going so fast that by the time the information got out, it was quickly outdated.

So Haddad started a live blog tracking everything in real time, “so people could act really quickly on appointments near their houses.”

He also started tweeting everything from CVS appointments to slots at local community clinics and county health department openings.

“The biggest reason we did that is just to offer our readers the chance to grab these appointments as quickly as possible,” he says.

Haddad says he knew there was a need for the information, but he didn’t expect it to take off as quickly as it did. “People were sending it to their friends,” he says.

Word of mouth about the blog and its practical, helpful nature spread quickly. Because Haddad’s name was in the story, people were contacting him directly.

“Just the fact that I was able to respond was such a huge relief for them just to talk to somebody,” he says.

Haddad estimates that he’s helped some 400 people since he began the project.

“The cool thing about that is a lot of these people are using that information to help other people,” he notes. “I get a lot of responses like, ‘I used this to find appointments for my whole family or my coworkers’. So there is that whole secondary part that I can’t even estimate. It’s just kind of spreading.”

Haddad’s familiarity with municipality websites and combing through aggregate sites for drug stores and grocery chains is how he finds the appointments. “And there are really, really active Facebook groups in our area that are called ‘the vaccine hunter groups,’ ” he adds.

Engagement is through the roof, he says. “The live blog on our website has had 150,000 views since it started, and my Twitter account has 4.1 million impressions in the last 28 days.”

Haddad sees this as a great example of how local TV news can work as community service journalism.

“It is a once in a lifetime opportunity to offer life-saving information to our viewers,” he says. “It just feels like the best use of our platform right now.”


Nexstar Inc., America’s largest local broadcasting company, is seeking an experienced and dynamic Vice President/General Manager to oversee its media properties in Rockford, Il, (DMA #139.) following the upcoming retirement of the current Vice President and General Manager, Kelly Lattimer on July 1, 2021.

In this role, the Vice President/General Manager will have full oversight over Nexstar’s operations at WQRF (FOX) and oversee its operational agreements with Mission Broadcasting providing services to WTVO (ABC/MyNet) through a JSA and SSA, as well as the station’s digital, mobile and social media assets. Click here for more specifics and how to apply. 

Tags: advertising, branding, ClickOnDetroit, comScore, creative services directors, Detroit, digital content manager, Donna Harper, Facebook, Graham Media, journalism, Ken Haddad, local news, Market Share, Market Share Monday, marketing, news marketing, news promotion, Paul Greeley, President Biden’s chief of staff, Ron Klain, TVNewsCheck, Twitter, Vaccine Hunter, WDIV

Comments (0)

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

You must be logged in to post a comment.

Primary Sidebar

RSS Classifieds

  • Producer and Reporter for Gray National Show and Weekend Anchor/Reporter (WVUE)
  • Assistant Chief Engineer, Multi-Media Journalist And Sales Account Executive
  • General Sales Manager
  • Digital Manager
  • Local Sales Manager, Digital Content Manager and Executive News Producer
  • Sales Manager, Executive Producer and Weekend News Anchor
  • Vice President Business Affairs
  • Director of Creative Services and Marketing, Director of Sales And Multimedia Journalist
  • Sr. Promotions Producer, Promotions Producer And Creative Services Photographer/Editor
  • IT Manager
Tweets by paulgreeley
TIP PAUL
Send breaking news to
Paul@NewsCheckMedia.com
Or call him at 817-578-6324
  • TV News Check
  • Media Job Center
  • The Tech Zone
  • Market Share Marketing and Promotions Blog
  • TV Station Directory
  • Advertise
  • Jobs
  • Become a Member
  • Join TVN Plus
  • Free Email Newsletters & Alerts

TVN Events

  • Women in Technology
  • OTT News Summit
  • NewsTECHFutures Retreat
  • Cybersecurity for Broadcasters
  • NewsTECHForum
  • TV2020: Monetizing the Future
  • Disrupt the News Challenge

Reader Services

  • Log in/Subscribe
  • My Account
  • Update password
  • Update Email Address
  • Newsletters & Alerts
  • RSS
  • Join TVN Plus
  • Help

Connect

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 
  • About
  • Contact
  • Member Help
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms and Conditions
© Copyright 2023 NewsCheckMedia LLC, 24 West Lancaster Ave., Suite 205 Ardmore, PA 19003 | 484-412-8287
TVNewsCheck, The Business of Broadcasting
  • Programming
  • Technology
  • Business/Revenue
  • Journalism
  • Digital
  • Regulation
  • Market Share