Melissa Ross: Public Radio host and Downtown advocate

News

Staff Writer

One of the first things people who have chosen broadcasting as their career path learn is: don’t sign any long leases. That’s because usually one job at a television or radio station leads to another and that usually means not only a new position but a new city as well.

Since 2003, Melissa Ross, producer and host of “First Coast Connect” on FM-89.9, has been the exception to that rule. She has transitioned from being an Emmy Award-winning reporter and news anchor at Ch. 12/25 to a different track as an account executive at The Dalton Agency to her current career incarnation on Jacksonville’s National Public Radio affiliate.

Even more amazing is that the three jobs over a more than six-year period have all been Downtown.

“First Coast Connect” airs Monday-Friday from 9-10 a.m. and each day Ross interviews an average of three people who are newsmakers and trendsetters or who have an opinion on current issues. Sometimes the show is serious and sometimes it’s humorous but it’s always topical and fast-paced.

Last week’s lineup included how census workers are counting homeless people, the Real Sense Prosperity campaign, a comedian who is starring in an Artist Series production at Florida State College at Jacksonville’s Wilson Center for the Arts, a preview of “The Vagina Monologues” at the University of North Florida and former Florida Gov. and U.S. Sen. Bob Graham.

Ross, who spent 20 years in television, said, “I’m interviewing a lot more people now than I ever did then.

“The best things about the show for me are all the people I get to meet and our listeners. They make the show a spontaneous conversation with everyone in the market – about a million people. It's made me realize how many intelligent, engaged people there are in this community.”

She also said her experience in television news was the perfect way to prepare for the radio show.

“When I was in TV news, I got to interview a lot of famous people from Jimmy Buffett to Barack Obama. It was great training for this job but what I’m doing now is the most fun I’ve ever had in broadcasting. It’s so casual and laid back and we have more time to talk so you never know where the interview will go,” said Ross.

Spending the last seven years working at three places within walking distance of each other has also been a lot of fun, she added.

“I’ve worked Downtown every day since I got to Jacksonville,” said Ross. “Even though I’m not a block from Hemming Plaza now like I was when I was at The Dalton Agency, I can still go to my favorite restaurants and the museum and the library and get my shoes repaired. I’m an urban person and working here has made me a real advocate for Downtown.”