Time for another in our series of "Where Are They Now?" features on the Director's Cut Blog where we catch up to some Channel 3 alumni as they continue their careers across the country.Ben Holbert was one of Channel 3's reporters who also worked for a period of time as a reporter on our "Akron Canton News" when it aired on WVPX, Pax 23.
We talked to Ben recently and here's what he had to share.
THE PAST:
I spent 25 years in broadcasting. I was pleased to work with every commercial television station in Cleveland. I served as a featured news reporter at WKYC-TV, PAX 23 in Akron, WOIO-CBS/WUAB-TV; WVIZ-TV, Cleveland Television Network in partnership with WEWS-TV. I began my broadcast career in 1980 as an vacation relief engineer at WJW-TV (formerly WJKW-TV). I also spent nearly three years at WJMO-radio 1490-AM as a news anchor/news reporter and talk show host.
THE PRESENT:Most recently, I served as Chief Communications Officer for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District since July 2007. I reported directly to the Chief Executive Officer of the largest public school district in Ohio, helping oversee a 1.2 million-dollar departmental budget and managed 14 full time employees. My responsibility included promotional campaign concepts for the district as well as serving as the district spokesperson.
THE FUTURE:
What I enjoyed most about my career in broadcasting was my ability to being a voice to people who had a story to share. As a native of Cleveland, having grown up on the southeast side, graduating from Benedictine and Kent State University, I have a significant history of the Greater Cleveland community and had a familiarity of the issues and concerns of people. I tried to develop my career around being a "community reporter."
My goal is to report on the positive items in Cleveland and find solutions to problems. My desire was to use my influence as "The Newsman" to make a difference in lives of people in Cleveland.Frank, I was very pleased with my career in broadcasting. I was pleased to have worked with some quality people who taught me a plenty about the industry and about life. There are many days that I miss my involvement in television; I hope that my presence provided a positive difference in the lives of the viewers that I came in contact.
1 comment:
Ben Holbert helped give me a start in TV News many years ago. He was a counslor, mentor and a high moral force to be reckoned with. Once I left that nest, I was disappointed to find that most in the news buisness didn't have the "care" or "concern" of a Ben Holbert and it was a let down. I learned to cope with it. I say that to say there are rare gems like Ben Holbert and I think people need to celebrate it- embrace it and learn from it.
Thank you for doing this update, it was fun to read and amazing to see how much Ben has experienced and he still has that awesome persona of being "just Ben, an extraordinary, nice guy".
I wish him and his family much success and all of God's blessings.
Raquel
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