I moved to Wheeling WV in 1992 and met an old school journalist by the name of Joseph Tarantini.  His ‘on-air’ name was Mark Davis and he had worked at WTRF since the early days of television. Back then all reporters and announcers with ethnic names would change them to something that sounded mainstream for the time.  He was a treasure trove of information and had been under-utilized by the station.  I worked weekends (the most unpopular shift) with him.  It was great to learn pure journalism and how to report by just the facts.

Over time he and Igarnered some acclaim  and moved onto travel reporting.  We figured it to be a great way to travel on the stations dime, while providing a valuable service. Viewers enjoyed the “Tri-State Travel Series”.  Most destinations were to be reached in one tank of gas.  It was one of my career highlights to win an AP Award for Photojournalism under his tutelage.

Mark passed away in 2011 and I will never forget the valuable skills he taught me.  I will miss his engaging conversations and unbiased view of the world.  Here are a few of the segments we produced in no particular order.  They are all stand alone complete reports.  Just click on the image:

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