Rick Moll ''rmoll9@bellsouth.net
"It's time for the latest news from the wires of the Associated Press
and the WJEF newsroom, I'm Rick Moll." Even though it's been roughly 30-years
(yikes) since those words nervously sprang from my mouth, it seems as if only
yesterday.I graduated from Lafayette Jeff in 1977, spending the better part
of my junior and senior years learning my trade from an amazing man, Mr. William
Fraser. I
can still remember the day I played the Paul Simon song with the lyrics, "When
I look back on all the crap I learned in high school." It didn't take long
for that album to be pulled from the shelves. I'll always remember traveling
to Chicago to take our First Class radio license test and catch a Cubs game.
After graduation I attended Purdue University. There I majored in Radio/Television
and Journalism. Since graduation in 1981, I've traveled the country doing this
crazy job called television news, holding just about every job in the newsroom.
My career started at WLFI-TV in Lafayette. I worked part-time doing sports anchoring
and reporting while finishing up at Purdue. My first full-time job took me to
McAllen, Tx. where I was the weekend sports anchor/reporter at KRGV-TV. I then
switched career paths changing from Sports to News. I moved to Wisconsin and
began News reporting for WAOW-TV in Wausau, WI.
Eventually I left the on-air work to concentrate on television news management.
I worked in middle management news jobs in Madison, WI; Cincinnati, OH.; and
Nashville, TN.
Finally I got my big break in 1991, running my own News department. I spent 4
1/2-years as News Director at WAOW-TV in Wausau, WI; left the frozen tundra to
make it back to Indiana where I spent 8 1/2 years as News Director at WANE-TV
in Fort Wayne, IN.
In the Spring of 2004, tired of the snow and cold of Indiana, I moved my family
to Columbus, GA. where I currently work as News Director for WTVM-TV/WXTX-TV.
WTVM is the dominant ABC affiliate in Columbus. We also produce news for our
Fox affiliate, WXTX-TV. I occasionally exchange e-mails with former WJEF classmate
Phil Ranier who works for a sister-station in the southeast.
All-in-all it's been a great career with many challenges and achievements. I've
been fortunate to work with many talented journalists. It's great seeing people
I hire move on to bigger stations.
I married a wonderful woman in Julie Zaina, an elementary school special education
teacher. We have two children, Kyle 11 and Rachel 10. While we still cheer on
our Boilermakers, we've adopted the Auburn Tigers as our southern school to cheer
for. War Eagle! We really miss our Indiana high school basketball. People down
here don't believe me when I say our high school gym seats 7200 people. My mom
still lives in Lafayette so we get back to see her several times a year. I really
miss those Arni's juniors and Pizza King deluxe pizzas.
You can reach me by e-mail, rmoll9@bellsouth.net.
Good luck to everyone.
Rick