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Photo: Tony Zappone |
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JULE IN THE FOX 13 NEWSROOM WITH NEWS DIRECTOR PHIL METLIN (Jan. 2007) |
JULE McGEE STORY Continued....
JULE, THE MAN WHO DOES EVERYTHING!
Jule is one of the few people in the newsroom who’s done it all. He got in the news business in the day when you didn’t work if you couldn’t do nearly everything in the newsroom. Through the years, he’s written, filmed, taped, edited, produced and put together just about everything electronic that the news people use today.
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Photo: Tony Zappone |
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JULE IN THE FOX 13 NEWSROOM WITH NEWS DIRECTOR PHIL METLIN (Jan. 2007) |
Since the early 80’s, he has played a major part in converting news gathering equipment into the latest variety and made sure it worked and worked well. He became news operations manager in the mid-80’s. When Gaylord Broadcasting sold the station, he became fleet manager. When Fox took charge of the station in the early 90’s, he reverted back to being news operations manager and Phil Metlin, who had been gone a few years, returned as news director about the same time.
Today, McGee is in charge of everything technical that affects news and is the liaison between the news and engineering department. The station is very uniquely set up, Jule handling cell phones, communications, satellite trucks, news vans, cars, pagers, record keeping, etc.
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Photo: Tony Zappone |
JULE CHECKING OUT FOX 13's SATELLITE TRUCK
Jule claims his biggest challenge in 2007 is the move from analog to digital microwave and high definition in the studio and field. Every live truck used by television stations in the Tampa Bay area will go digital and HD, with all new equipment. Lucky for Channel 13, Jule is there to be sure it’s done right.
PARTING REMARKS
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Photo: Tony Zappone |
JULE IN HIS FOX 13 OFFICE READING A HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY CARD
“Working at WTVT has been the experience of a lifetime. Working in news has always been a dream. It’s been a wonderful way to make a living. Nobody ever got between me and a story…that’s the legacy I want to leave behind as a news person. And when I threw away the pen and became the technical person, you still didn’t get in my way.”
Jule
turned 70 in October of 2007, and began seriously considering retirement. “I sometimes think about the young people at the
station who’ve been sitting around waiting for me, Jim Benedict (retired Jan.
2008), 'Mak' Makinen and
Duane Martin to retire. Every one of us has evolved during our time at Channel
13. I can’t imagine leaving anytime soon.”
Jule sums up his years at Channel 13 this way: “There’s
no other place like it. You learn something new every day at the University of WTVT.”
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EMAIL JULE McGEE:
CLICK
HERE
(Email users can also cut/paste this address into
their Email address box)
PULSE EXTRA
On April 22nd, 2008, Jule McGee officially retired from WTVT. Scores of
past and present employees assembled in the studio to salute Jule in an
emotional, funny, and nostalgic tribute. (thanks to John W. Parker for the
photos).
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Past and present WTVT employees |
Fox 13 G.M. Bob Linger presents Jule |
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Tall tales from Jule's 41 years at WTVT |
A few tears...but mostly lots of laughs |
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"Tampa's Engineering Chief" plaque |
Former news director Phil Metlin speaks highly of Jule |