Spring Break
Local anchor signs off from TV career after 30-year span
Joshua Aromin
Issue date: 1/27/09 Section: Entertainment
01/27/09 - As TV shows come and go, the more popular ones leave behind a memorable legacy, while other lackluster shows disappear into a sea of nothingness.
Even though newscasts are the one constant on TV, the same fate that surrounds a TV show also applies to news anchors.
Whether it's the Coffee Cup Salute, the friendly morning smile, the daily First Birthdays, or just the warm friendly delivery of the news, the name "Frank Coletta" is commonly known to many Rhode Islanders.
An established news anchor in Rhode Island, Coletta celebrated his 30th year with NBC and continues to hold a prominent spot in local news.
Though the news sometimes includes fires, murders and other not-so-pleasant topics, Coletta has brought his own personal touch in, reporting efficiently and effectively, but doing it in an enjoyable way.
Although there has been some uncertainty in the field of journalism recently, Coletta has been named Rhode Island Monthly's best morning news anchor for 16 years straight.
Coletta's ambitions for success as a newsman started at a young age. Being part of the first generation to really have TV in his home, Coletta decided he would get into broadcast journalism in his early teens.
"I watched guys like Art [Lake] and a little later Doug White and a whole crew of that first generation of broadcasters and it looked like something I might want to do," said Coletta.
A graduate of Emerson College, he wasn't always in the prestigious seat in which he sits now. He first started his career in radio and moved around from station to station.
"The first jobs were with very small stations where I was the disc jockey and the newsman," said Coletta. While at some of those smaller stations, he held jobs that dealt with maintaining transmitters and even dealing with sales.
"My goal was news, but it took me a few years of playing records, and they were [vinyl] records as a disc jockey before I got a job that was exclusively news," he continued.
Even though newscasts are the one constant on TV, the same fate that surrounds a TV show also applies to news anchors.
Whether it's the Coffee Cup Salute, the friendly morning smile, the daily First Birthdays, or just the warm friendly delivery of the news, the name "Frank Coletta" is commonly known to many Rhode Islanders.
An established news anchor in Rhode Island, Coletta celebrated his 30th year with NBC and continues to hold a prominent spot in local news.
Though the news sometimes includes fires, murders and other not-so-pleasant topics, Coletta has brought his own personal touch in, reporting efficiently and effectively, but doing it in an enjoyable way.
Although there has been some uncertainty in the field of journalism recently, Coletta has been named Rhode Island Monthly's best morning news anchor for 16 years straight.
Coletta's ambitions for success as a newsman started at a young age. Being part of the first generation to really have TV in his home, Coletta decided he would get into broadcast journalism in his early teens.
"I watched guys like Art [Lake] and a little later Doug White and a whole crew of that first generation of broadcasters and it looked like something I might want to do," said Coletta.
A graduate of Emerson College, he wasn't always in the prestigious seat in which he sits now. He first started his career in radio and moved around from station to station.
"The first jobs were with very small stations where I was the disc jockey and the newsman," said Coletta. While at some of those smaller stations, he held jobs that dealt with maintaining transmitters and even dealing with sales.
"My goal was news, but it took me a few years of playing records, and they were [vinyl] records as a disc jockey before I got a job that was exclusively news," he continued.
