Craig Reck started his media career with a regional Emmy® award thanks to WOUB

Craig Reck’s media career started with a regional Emmy® award in the program/host category while he was an 51�� student working at WOUB. As host of WOUB’s Down and Dirty Science, an educational series that focuses on transporting energy through the environmental system, Reck found his place. The show used Reck’s talents as a journalist, comedian and actor.

“It was the perfect marriage of all the worlds I was in,” said Reck. “It was the best thing I’ve ever been a part of and was my dream job at the time. I was able to be on camera, while being informative and fun.”

Reck came to Athens from a suburb of Pittsburgh. He was interested in journalism and the reputation of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism was a big selling point.

“My cousin went to 51��, so I visited campus,” said Reck. “Walking around campus, I realized that it was exactly what I pictured when I thought of college, and it has a really good journalism program, which was something I was very interested in.”

During his first few years on campus, Reck was part of the Lost Flamingo Theatre Company and a student comedy program called Fridays Live.

“I was intimated by the broadcast journalism scene. I didn’t have any journalism experience, but I knew I wanted to be in front of people and talk,” said Reck. “After I got through a few journalism classes, I felt more comfortable about going to work at WOUB. Then, I quickly realized I was way behind. So, I did early morning radio and worked my way into TV. I spent a lot of time at WOUB during my last few quarters and got the opportunity to host Down and Dirty Science.”

Reck applied for and received a foreign correspondent internship in Mexico for three months after graduation. Upon returning home, he started applying for TV reporter jobs and got one at WECT in Wilmington, N.C. Reck worked there for a couple of years and eventually became a weekend anchor. Then, he accepted a job as a TV reporter at KOLD in Tucson, Ariz., where he earned his second regional Emmy®. But after a couple of years there, Reck decided to take his career in a different direction.

“I was hired as the public information officer/communication coordinator at the Tucson Airport Authority,” said Reck. “I worked there for three and a half years before accepting my current position at the University of Arizona. I am the manager of content and communications in the Office of Research, Innovation and Impact."

Even though he decided to pursue a career outside of TV news, Reck believes he wouldn’t be where he is today without the opportunities he had to learn and grow at WOUB.

“WOUB opened my eyes to the job market and the work environment in general. Up until that point, I was a kid from a small town, who showed up and did what he could,” said Reck. “But at WOUB, I learned to hustle. I learned I had to bring my A game and get things done if I wanted to keep doing this. That was huge for me. If it wasn’t for WOUB keeping me busy and honest, I might not have the work ethic that I do now.”

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