There probably was never a group photo taken that included all the members of the television news department. At any given time there were always some who were off duty, on assignment or on vacation. In the mid 1970s, when most of these photos were taken, there were from 40 to 60 men and women in the department, counting photolab personnel, engineers and graphic artists. (In the 1981 station phone directory, there are 50 names assigned to the TV news and sports departments.)

Some of the TV News Team - 1970s

To the casual viewer, unaware of all that happens behind the scenes, it might have appeared that Doug Mayes, Jim Thacker and Clyde McLean (news, sports and weather, respectively) and their successors did it all. Au contraire. It took—and still takes—a village, and a pretty big one at that, to collect, write, photograph, process, edit and produce all the news that flows out over WBTV's airwaves.

WBTV's newsroom was an incubator for many who would move on to the networks and large markets. Just a few of those who honed their craft at WBTV were: Nelson Benton, Kathy Moore and Bill Whitaker (to CBS News); Don Robertson (CBS Sports); Robert Hager and Ken Alvord (NBC News); Al Dale (ABC News); Gail Harris (WBZ, WBGH-TV, Boston); Lori Stokes (MSNBC, then WABC-TV, New York); and Rita Cosby (now at MSNBC).

A name that appeared recently in national obituary columns was that of Mike Piller, who early in his career served a stint at WBTV News. He left and became a Hollywood writer and producer, working first on such shows as Simon & Simon, Cagney & Lacy and Miami Vice.

In the 1990s Mike Piller became the guiding force behind the Star Trek TV franchise: Deep Space Nine, The Next Generation and Voyager. More recently he was executive producer of Stephen's King's The Dead Zone series. Sadly, Mike died in 2005 at age 57.

One of the many talented news photographers of those days, Charles "Chuck" Hemrick, loaned us his collection of photos of news personnel and activities. We'll build on them with images from other sources.

If you have pictures that beg to be added to the gallery, don't hesitate to send them in.