Hefner Honored to Fete Long-time Mentor John Greene at Hall of Fame Induction
“Truly, there is no one who has had more influence on my personal life, and that of hundreds of other broadcasters, here and around the country, than John Greene.”
– WRAL-TV Vice President & General Manager Jim Hefner
WRAL-TV VP & GM Jim Hefner (left) presents CBC VP of Special Projects John Greene with induction into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame. |
CBC Vice President of Special Projects John Greene recently received induction into the N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame. Accolades abounded as WRAL-TV Vice President & General Manager Jim Hefner played an integral role in the presentation of the honor.
“John’s greatest mark on the industry is the influence he has had on other people,” said Hefner. “John is a great teacher, a great role model. I know first hand.”
Greene has had a long career at CBC and in broadcasting. He was instrumental in many of WRAL’s technological advancements, including the launch of SKY5, North Carolina’s first newsgathering helicopter in 1979 and the launch of the state’s first Satellite Newsgathering vehicle in 1984. Greene also played a key role in WRAL’s pioneering efforts with High Definition television. In 1996, WRAL-HD became the first experimental high-definition TV station in the U.S., and John led the team that achieved this national milestone.
Hefner (left) congratulates his mentor & friend, John Greene. |
John Greene (far left) stands with his fellow inductees: (l to r) Greene, Ken Lowe, Ferrell Guillory, Roberta Bowman, Andrew “Mac” Secrest, Jennie Buckner & Walter Klein. |
Since his arrival at WRAL-TV in 1976, Greene has served as Station Operations Manager, Vice President & General Manager, Senior VP and now in his role as CBC VP of Special Projects.
Greene graduated at the top of his class with a B.A. in Journalism at UNC-CH. He earned all college and living expenses as a full-time student. He became a reporter at WBTV with Jefferson Pilot after graduation and moved his way up through Producer, Manager Editor and News & Information Manger for WBT-WBTV before coming to WRAL-TV.
Greene was one of 8 distinguished communications professionals inducted into the N.C. Journalism, Advertising and Public Relations halls of fame and the N.C. Association Broadcasters Hall of Fame on Sunday, April 1, 2007. The halls are based in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at UNC-CH, and recognize individuals who have made outstanding, career-long contributions to their field.
During the past two decades he has served as the Wes Wallace Chair as a Visiting Lecturer in the School of Radio/Television and as a lecturer in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Greene has shared his vast broadcasting knowledge and experience with colleagues as well as his students at UNC.
John Greene speaks of the great honor he feels in being inducted. |
John Greene (left) poses for a quick shot with the man who helped honor him for the evening with a poignant introduction, Jim Hefner. |
“So what did he teach us?” said Hefner. “If you do the right things all those other things will fall into place…. In practice, if you invest in stations, if you invest in people, if you do the rights things, like produce a world class, local newscast; relevant public affairs programming; hard-hitting documentaries; political debates; meaningful investigative reporting, and other viewer-respecting local efforts…ratings will follow – profits will follow.”
The Hall of Fame is not the first honor for Greene. Among other awards, he was selected one of the nation’s 25 outstanding television managers by TV-Radio Age in 1986. He was also the recipient of 1993 Distinguished Service Award by the NCAB.
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| WRAL-TV Vice President & General Manager Jim Hefner introduced John Greene and presented his award at the banquet. For the full text of the speech he made about his mentor, click here. |
A native of Shelby, NC, Greene and his wife, Berry, have two children, Brad & Laura. Outside of broadcasting, Greene has a variety of interests and organizations with which he volunteers. An avid sailor, Greene is the founder and President of non-profit environmental organization Save Our Sounds.
“The induction is a great honor,” said Greene. “I appreciate the honor especially since it comes from your peers. I also think Goodmon is responsible for most of my successes because of his vision, foresight, and commitment. But any credits given to me would have to be shared with the dozens of professionals that worked with me over the years at CBC.”
Thanks to UNC-CH’s Communications School of Journalism & Mass Communications and Kyle Long for these capcom photos.
