JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Tom Wills has been a broadcast journalist for 60 years.
Over six decades, the set designs have changed around him, his hair has changed and the clothes have definitely changed.
But Tom has remained constant. The newsman. The family man. The man you trust.
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It’s a role that both humbles and honors the longtime broadcaster. And it’s not one he takes for granted.
“It’s my joy to have earned the viewer’s trust. It’s also humbling, and I work hard to make sure I keep earning it on every newscast I anchor,” Tom said as he prepares to retire on May 31 from the News4JAX anchor desk after 49 years in the same job.
For nearly five decades, you’ve allowed Tom to come into your homes -- and these days straight to your phones -- to deliver the news.
Accurately, fairly and with integrity.
Tom said despite changes in storytelling technology over the decades, the basics of his job have not changed.
“Bring the audience good stories, well told,” he said.
But he’s also proud of the progress WJXT has made since he arrived in 1975 when it comes to what stories are being told.
“We cover a far greater variety of news of greater interest to a wider audience,” Tom said. “In 1975, our local news was completely dominated by coverage of government and crime and a smattering of human interest stories.”
That pioneering Jacksonville television station that helped invent local TV news more than 60 years ago is now the nationally recognized “Channel 4: The Local Station.”
And Tom is the long and sturdy bridge that carried the station to where it is today.
Why Jacksonville?
Tom, a native of Pittsburgh, began his career as a radio broadcaster in Washington, D.C., in 1964. Five years later, he was hired by Washington’s all-news radio station, WTOP-AM, which was owned by the Washington Post Company, now known as Graham Media Group.
While in D.C., Tom covered the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination riots, Bobby Kennedy’s funeral, the Supreme Court hearing on the Pentagon Papers, the Watergate break-in and President Richard Nixon’s departure from office.
Working for WTOP, Tom got some limited television field reporting and anchoring experience for WTOP-TV -- and his boss at the time, Jim Snyder, saw potential.
Snyder asked Tom if he’d like to be the weekend anchor for the company’s television station in Jacksonville: Channel 4.
“Jim told me I would have the opportunity to develop into a potential replacement for Bill Grove, Channel 4′s pioneering main anchor who started local TV news here, when Bill retired,” Tom said.
And nearly 50 years later, Tom and his family are still in the River City.
“We stayed because we fell in love with Jacksonville and with Channel 4,” Tom said.
Over those years, Tom became one of the most recognized and respected citizens of Jacksonville and has mentored generations of broadcast journalists.
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The newsman
In his 49 years at WJXT, Tom helped guide the station through its transition from a CBS affiliate to an independent station in 2002; covered two space shuttle disasters, the 9/11 terror attacks and various political scandals; and witnessed first-hand the birth of the Jacksonville Jaguars in 1995.
For more than 20 years of his tenure, he was part of what became the longest-running TV anchor team in the nation.
“Deborah Gianoulis, Sam Kouvaris, George Winterling and I were together from 1981 when Sam joined us until 2003 when Deb ended her news anchoring career. That was more than two decades,” Tom said. “As time went on, other key people were added. Rob Sweeting, Mary Baer, John Gaughan. We were and still are a family.”
Tom is the last of the original four to leave WJXT.
“I’ve been blessed with good genes, good health, a love of news reporting and a supportive wife,” Tom said of why he’s stuck it out so long.
Among Tom’s most memorable stories was his coverage of the tragic Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash in Mississippi. He has followed the Jacksonville-based band through several revivals over the decades since with exclusive access and interviews.
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“When I met the injured Billy Powell at our airport back here in Jacksonville when he flew home from Mississippi, we connected. It led to a private and personal friendship that continued until his death in 2009,” Tom said. “I’ve also had good relationships with Johnny Van Zant, Rickie Medlocke, and Judy Van Zant.”
Tom said he’ll also never forget enduring months co-anchoring the news from a card table in his home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Despite the challenges and changes over the years, Tom’s passion for the work and for giving Jacksonville the best news coverage possible never diminished.
Just ask the producers who work with him daily.
Tom has never read a script on air that he didn’t review and tweak, sometimes checking with the reporter or producer who wrote it and even contacting his own sources to ensure the story was not only accurate but complete and told as effectively as possible.
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And new producers quickly learned there are some words Tom won’t say on air, like “probe” when we’re talking about an investigation.
But Tom’s goal was always to improve the on-air product, and in a profession known for high pressure and big egos, Tom is humble and kind to everyone. He treats interns and studio assistants with the same respect as his newscast producers.
But for Tom, it always comes back to you, the viewers, and his responsibility to you.
Never was that more evident than in October 2016 when Tom made a memorably emotional plea for viewers to evacuate in the face of Hurricane Matthew, which had been predicted to bring “catastrophic damage” to the area if it made direct landfall (thankfully, it didn’t).
Tom’s passion and commitment have not gone unnoticed, earning him three Florida Emmys and two Columbia Dupont awards for documentary reporting.
And in March 2018, Florida Associated Press Broadcasters honored Tom with its Legacy Award.
For Tom’s 40th anniversary nine years ago, then-Mayor Alvin Brown celebrated Tom’s contributions to the community when he declared May 12 “Tom Wills Day” in Jacksonville.
The family man
Before he came to Jacksonville, Tom was a part-time instructor at his alma mater, American University, teaching news reporting in Washington.
That’s where he met his wife, Gina. They will be married 50 years this September.
Tom said Gina was a student in an entry-level graduate journalism course at American University, and after the course ended, he asked her out.
“Funny thing is I have not done any teaching since,” Tom said.
He said he proposed to Gina while walking on the beach in Ocean City, Maryland.
The couple have three adult children -- Josh, Kate and Mike -- and three grandchildren -- 13-year-old Adele, 10-year-old Jack and 8-year-old Wesley.
Tom said Gina has been waiting patiently for him to decide it was time to retire.
“For the past few years, each time we would end a ‘stay-cation’ and I would be about to go back to work, Gina would say, ‘You know, if you were retired, we could do THIS all the time.’ I would ask, ‘Do you want me to retire?’ She’d always say, ‘No, I want you to be happy.’ We love each other and I know she meant it. She does want me to be happy,” Tom said. “Circumstances change. The time has come for me to retire after 49 years in the same job, 55 years with the same company, and 60 years in broadcasting. When it’s time, it’s time. We are both happy and excited to begin living this next chapter in our lives.”
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A chapter that Tom says will definitely involve spending more time with his beloved grandchildren. As for any other plans…
“We are letting it all unfold one day at a time,” Tom said.