| R 354 |
| 2024 -- H 8333 Enacted 06/05/2024 |
| H O U S E R E S O L U T I O N |
| JOYOUSLY CELEBRATING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF NBC 10 WJAR ON JULY 10, 2024 |
Introduced By: Representatives Shekarchi, Blazejewski, Kazarian, Chippendale, Casimiro, Stewart, Voas, Boylan, Messier, and Fellela |
| Date Introduced: June 05, 2024 |
| WHEREAS, For 75 years, NBC 10 WJAR has been a leading television station, serving |
| Rhode Island and Southeastern Massachusetts everyday with accurate news, consumer and |
| weather information, and quality entertainment. They remain a vital source of breaking news and |
| information, and a revered news and media television station, serving its southern New England |
| audience at all times of the day and night on all platforms; and |
| WHEREAS, WJAR-TV was the first television station in Rhode Island, broadcasting its |
| initial television show on July 10, 1949, beginning as Channel 11, but transitioning to Channel 10 |
| in 1952. The very first program aired by WJAR-TV was a baseball game between the Boston Red |
| Sox and the Philadelphia Athletics. WJAR originally broadcast from the fifth floor of the |
| landmark Outlet Department Store building in downtown Providence, and later moved to the |
| Broadcast House on Dorrance Street, and subsequently to Kenney Drive in Cranston; and |
| WHEREAS, WJAR-TV has always been an innovator within the media broadcast |
| industry. Some of its many important innovations and milestones since 1949, include producing |
| some of the first film processed and broadcast by a local tv station within the same day, airing |
| one of the first live video broadcasts from a helicopter in 1955, and having the first television |
| meteorologist in Rhode Island, John Ghiorse. WJAR-TV’s first ever color telecast occurred in |
| October of 1963, when it broadcast a tour of the Rhode Island State House with Governor John |
| Chafee; and |
| WHEREAS, WJAR’s reputation for innovation and always going the extra mile to serve |
| their audience was never more evident than when their microwave truck was able to provide a |
| live vital link between Governor. J. Joseph Garrahy at the State House and the people of Rhode |
| Island during the Blizzard of 1978. WJAR also had the great honor of broadcasting a live Town |
| Hall special in 1994 with President Bill Clinton, who appeared in the Cranston studios; and |
| WHEREAS, Legendary WJAR-TV personnel have included the late news announcer and |
| weather forecaster, Art Lake, news anchor, Doug White, and investigative reporter, Jim Taricani, |
| all of whom left a rich legacy of community service and quality journalism. Current WJAR-TV |
| staff members include news veterans with as many as fifty years of experience, who work |
| alongside and mentor young journalists. One of these talented staff members includes broadcast |
| engineer, Larry Silva, who will be retiring on July 11, after more than 57 years of stellar service |
| in the Rhode Island broadcast industry; and |
| WHEREAS, Over the past 75 years, WJAR-TV has earned many deserved awards in |
| recognition of its journalistic excellence including national and regional Edward R. Murrow |
| Awards, Emmy Awards and nominations, and Associated Press Awards and nominations. In |
| 1954, WJAR TV received the prestigious Peabody Award for its coverage of Hurricane Carol; |
| and |
| WHEREAS, To this day, NBC 10 WJAR remains an industry leader thanks to its focus |
| on providing accurate news and information at all times. They tirelessly strive to provide needed |
| information immediately, accurately, and responsibly, from breaking weather or news |
| information to important community updates. WJAR has a reputation for staying on their stories |
| as they consistently follow developments and update new information as it occurs on important |
| stories to their audience. Their investigations have exposed corruption, held the powerful |
| accountable, and separated fact from fiction during election season. This is why it remains a most |
| trusted source of news and information for so many people living in Rhode Island and |
| Southeastern Massachusetts; now, therefore be it |
| RESOLVED, That this House of Representatives of the State of Rhode Island hereby |
| joyously celebrates the 75th Anniversary of NBC 10 WJAR on July 10, 2024, and wishes them |
| many more years of providing quality journalism and entertainment to the people of Rhode Island |
| and Southeastern New England; and be it further |
| RESOLVED, That the Secretary of State be and hereby is authorized and directed to |
| transmit a duly certified copy of this resolution to NBC 10 WJAR News Director Scott Isaacs. |
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| LC006202 |
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